Let’s see what we should pay attention to on the 30th.
Buffett’s Berkshire’s first quarter net profit halved year-on-year
The net profit of Berkshire Hathaway, a subsidiary of “stock god” Buffett, fell sharply in the first quarter.
On April 30, on the eve of Buffett’s general meeting in 2022, Berkshire Hathaway routinely released the first quarterly report of 2022.
According to the financial report, Berkshire Hathaway’s revenue in the first quarter was US $7.04 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.3%. The net profit was US $5.46 billion, compared with us $11.71 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 53%. This was due to a net loss of $1.58 billion in investment and derivatives, compared with a net profit of $4.69 billion in the same period last year.
Berkshire Hathaway said in a press release on Saturday: any given amount of quarterly investment income (loss) is usually meaningless, and the net income per share data provided may be very misleading to investors who know little or nothing about accounting rules. Berkshire Hathaway’s operating profit is highly volatile quarterly because the company has a large amount of stock investment and includes unrealized investment gains or losses. Buffett has said he believes operating profit is a better measure of the company’s performance.
first quarter net loss of investment and derivatives was USD 1.58 billion , with a year-on-year net profit of USD 4.69 billion.
In the first quarter, Berkshire also spent $3.2 billion to buy back the company’s class A and class B shares. This is the lowest level since the same period in 2020 and is also lower than the $6.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
In addition, in the first quarter of this year, about 66% of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock positions were concentrated in four companies: apple, Bank of America, American Express and Chevron. In the first quarter, the company significantly increased its holdings of Chevron. Based on the closing price of Chevron on March 31, it is equivalent to holding about 159 million shares in the first quarter, much higher than the approximately 38 million shares held at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. However, Chevron is not the only energy stock Buffett likes. Last month, Buffett bought $7 billion worth of common stock in Western oil companies.
Berkshire’s cash reserves fell to $106.3 billion in the first quarter of this year.
the operating revenue by department in the first quarter is as follows:
Insurance underwriting – US $47 million (US $764 million in the same period last year)
Insurance – investment income – $1.17 billion (compared with $1.21 billion in the same period last year)
Railways – $1.37 billion (compared with $1.25 billion in the same period last year)
Utilities and energy – $750 million ($703 million in the same period last year)
Manufacturing, services and retail – $3.03 billion (compared with $2.62 billion in the same period last year)
Others – US $677 million (US $473 million in the same period last year)
Berkshire Hathaway said the covid-19 epidemic continued to affect most of the company’s operations, especially its insurance business. The number of claims continued to rise compared with the same period last year. In general, after experiencing periodic temporary business closures and restrictions in 2021, supply chain disruptions and cost increases persist in 2022. The development of geopolitical conflicts has exacerbated the disruption of supply chains, “leading to an increase in the cost of goods and services in many parts of the world.”
Buffett’s shareholders’ meeting begins
Berkshire’s annual general meeting of shareholders, which is highly expected by global investors, is off the regression line after two sessions, and the Q & a link of management, which has attracted the most attention, has officially opened.
According to the screenshots released by netizens on the scene, the scene of Chi Health Center has also become popular with the upcoming Q & a session. According to the prediction of the conference, the number of participants is likely to exceed 40000 this year and set a new record.
According to the live pictures and social media pictures, Buffett’s longtime friend Bill Gates, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and Apple CEO Tim Cook all appeared at the scene.
Buffett said the company bought a total of $51.8 billion in shares in the first quarter and sold $10.3 billion at the same time. From the end of February to the middle of March, he bought $41 billion in stocks at one go. Despite the sharp decline in cash levels, Buffett said the company would keep enough safe cash.
Buffett said: “At the shareholders’ meeting two years ago, we didn’t know what would happen to the epidemic, we didn’t know what would happen to the economy. By 2022, Berkshire Hathaway had $7 billion in operating revenue. Many things will change, but one thing remains the same, that is, we always hold a lot of cash, not commercial paper, and we don’t have money market funds. We believe we should hold a lot of cash.” “I believe in cash very much. It’s like our oxygen.”
Buffett: in the past two years, the stock market is like a casino, where everyone gambles
Buffett said at the shareholders’ meeting that the stock market has been volatile and unpredictable in the past two years. Like a casino, everyone gambles in it. This phenomenon has been particularly obvious in the past two years. It may also be that the stock market has been too bull in the past two years.
Becky quick: what happened during this time? The month and a half you just mentioned? I think it’s important to understand this.
Buffett: in the past two years, I’m not talking about Wall Street, but the whole capital market and the environment of the whole large stock market, including the trading market. In the past two years, this market is very elusive and has great turbulence. Sometimes it seems to be investment oriented. You may also read in the book, for example, what kind of performance the capital market will have, and you will learn from it. But at other times, the stock market is like a casino, where everyone gambles. This phenomenon has been particularly obvious in the past two years, which is also driven by Wall Street, because the stock market has been very good in the past two years. If you buy Berkshire in 1965, you will keep the stock, but if you are a trader, you will starve to death if you keep the stock until now. Therefore, the way Wall Street makes money is speculation. Many people may not have thought that capitalism would last until now 200 years ago, so they can only make money when others have to take action. They make more money when everyone speculates and gambles. Think about if a person trades 20 times a day, just like on a slot machine in a casino, that’s how they make money. They like to watch people trade, but the market is dominated by this situation.
CBRC’s response to the difficulty of withdrawal of Henan rural banks:
carry out investigation and verification and actively and safely dispose of
On April 30, it was learned from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission that in response to the recent media reports on the difficulty of withdrawing funds from individual village banks in Henan and other places, the head of the relevant department of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said that the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission was highly concerned about the suspected violation of laws by individual village banks in Henan and other places and the closure of the above-mentioned online service channels of banks, and had instructed the local China Banking and insurance regulatory bureau to closely cooperate with the local Party committee and government and relevant departments to quickly carry out investigation and verification, Actively and steadily handle.
At present, the deposit and withdrawal business of relevant rural bank business outlets is carried out normally. All businesses handled in accordance with laws and regulations are protected by national laws. The CBRC will pay close attention to the progress of the investigation, cooperate with relevant departments, investigate and deal with illegal and criminal acts according to law, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the majority of financial consumers.
previously reported:
The news that “many rural banks cannot withdraw money” continued to ferment recently and rushed to microblog hot search on April 25. According to the Beijing News, the relevant departments have launched an investigation into the problem that online depositors of Henan Yuzhou xinminsheng village bank, Zhecheng Huanghuai village bank and Shangcai Huimin village bank could not withdraw cash from April 18 to 25, and will protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers in accordance with the law.
On April 25, in response to the problem that online depositors of Henan Yuzhou xinminsheng village bank, Zhecheng Huanghuai village bank and Shangcai Huimin village bank could not withdraw cash from April 18 to 25, the central bank replied, “the people’s Bank of China is highly concerned about this incident. At present, relevant departments have carried out investigation, and the people’s Bank of China will cooperate with relevant departments to protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers according to law.”
Xuchang Municipal People’s Government replied to relevant netizens on the question of “it is difficult for Yuzhou new China Minsheng Banking Corp.Ltd(600016) online depositors to withdraw money”: “Recently, some criminals have used the online channels of Yuzhou xinminsheng village bank to defraud. In order to effectively block the fraud of criminals, Yuzhou xinminsheng village bank is upgrading and optimizing the online channel system, which has been announced in the early stage. At present, all business outlets of Yuzhou xinminsheng village bank can handle business normally, and all legal savings deposits are protected by law. Please wait for the notice patiently. If other problems are involved, they will be handled by the bank Relevant departments are investigating and handling. “
latest situation in Russia and Ukraine
Putin signed the order: send money
According to the documents released by the Russian legal information website on the 30th, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order to pay 10000 rubles (about 916 yuan) to each person who participated in the patriotic war in Donetsk, Lugansk and Ukraine’s “liberated” areas, according to the Russian Tass News Agency and the news agency.
Zelinski: the risk of breakdown of Russia Ukraine negotiations is very high
On April 29 local time, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that the situation in Kharkov and Donbas was very difficult, and the Ukrainian government would solve the problem of energy supply shortage as soon as possible. On the Russian Ukrainian negotiations, Zelensky said he wanted to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But he also stressed that the risk of the breakdown of the Russian Ukrainian negotiations is very high.
Zelensky said that the situation in Kharkov and Donbas is very difficult, especially after Russia attacked the kremenchuk refinery in central Ukraine. Russia deliberately destroyed the local production supply and fuel storage facilities and blocked the port. The Ukrainian government could not immediately solve the problem of energy supply shortage, but the government promised the people that it would establish a temporary fuel supply system within a week or two to prevent sustained energy shortage.
At the end of last month, the face-to-face negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey, made some positive progress. Russia promised to significantly reduce military operations in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and Chernigov, and Ukraine proposed to establish a neutral position under international security. This allowed the international community to see the dawn of a peaceful settlement of the Russian Ukrainian conflict, but the subsequent so-called “Bucha incident” hindered the peace talks between the two sides.
Ukrainian officials: there is a possibility that the conflict will evolve into a protracted war
On April 30 local time, alahamia, chairman of the parliamentary caucus of the Ukrainian people’s public servant party, said that Ukraine was preparing for different situations and was currently developing a strategy to deal with situations where the conflict could last for many years. He said that there is a possibility that the conflict will evolve into a protracted war. At present, the Ukrainian Institute of strategy is estimating all possible prospects for the conflict and formulating appropriate plans and strategies for this purpose.
Lavrov: Russia will not threaten anyone with nuclear war
According to the global network news, according to the Russian satellite news agency, on April 29 local time, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said in an interview with Arab satellite television that Russia would not threaten anyone with nuclear war. It was the first western countries and Ukraine to mention nuclear war.
“We have never played with such a dangerous concept. Never. We should all abide by the statement made by the five nuclear weapon states that we will never trigger a nuclear war.” Lavrov said that it is Russia that has repeatedly advocated that all nuclear states adopt statements to confirm their commitment not to be the first to use nuclear weapons. Lavrov went on to say that Moscow did not think it was at war with NATO because it “would increase the risk of the [nuclear war] we just discussed”.
