On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.4%.
Linamar was up 1.8% recovering some of the ground lost recently.
Wholesale trade for November was reported and was up marginally.
What will Buffett say?
In about five weeks, Warren Buffett will release his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders. The letter always starts out by reporting the increase in book value per share. This will likely be low double digits and may possibly edge out the gain in the S&P 500 which was about 11.5% including dividends. Book value likely surged in Q4 but I am not sure it will beat the S&P 500 or even get over 10%.
The next part of the letter usually talks about recent acquisitions, and this year Precision Castparts was the largest by far.
Buffett’s letter always reviews the four major areas of operations which are Insurance, Utilities & Railroad, Investments and everything else (manufacturing, retailing and service).
Finally, and often of most general interest, Buffett includes some sort of editorial about investing, accounting or the economy.
Last year he wrote about how America is in fact already great and the productivity gains that have greatly benefited most (but not all) people notwithstanding the associated job losses. I don’t think he will repeat this but possibly he will include soothing words about how America will (at least ultimately) do just fine with Trump as President.
He could address his thoughts on a fair trade system. But he laid out those thoughts some years ago with a detailed plan that would have eliminated trade deficits if implemented.
He could address income inequality and how to solve it.
Topics that he will not likely address in any detail include:
His successor as CEO. He has been saying for decades that his Board knows who the successor would be if he died or otherwise left this year but that the name changes over the years and even the successor does not know who it is. It appears that he intends to remain as CEO and chief investment officer until he dies or is mentally incapacitated.
Company Behavior Under Trump
Most companies that plan major capital projects and job additions may decide to try and give as much credit to Trump as possible. Companies that were already planning to do things will likely be glad to let Trump share the credit. Buffett is unlikely to play that game as the vast majority of Berkshire’s capital spending and jobs have always been in America.
Andrew Peller will be the next company added to our list. It’s a good company and well managed. But it will likely only rate as (lower) Buy. I’d be comfortable taking a small position in it.