Tuesday was yet another interesting day in the markets.
The S&P 500 was up 0.6% whole Toronto was about flat.
Most of the stocks on our list were up. But three Edmonton-headquartered companies that I like were down. Melcor was down another 2.8% to $20.77, Stantec was down 3.0% to $31.11 ($62.22 adjusting for its recent split) and Canadian Western Bank was down 1.8% to $34.08. I have been following two these for over 15 years and the third for 12 years. All three have seen big price drops on more than one occasion over that period. And all three have done very well over that period. I consider all three to be very well managed companies. I suspect all three will be excellent long-term investments. In the short term they could certainly continue to go down, as can any stock.
Today I bought back into Stantec which I had sold last year at about $69 (about $35 adjusting for the split). I also added to my Canadian Western Bank position. It’s entirely possible that my buying on this dip has been too aggressive and too early. Only time will tell.
Berkshire Hathaway’s A shares closed today at an even $225,000. It is almost beyond comprehension that these are the same shares that were trading at about the $14 to $18 range when Buffett took control of the company in 1965. In late February Buffett’s annual letter will tally up the results of his first 50 years of running Berkshire. Other stocks have rocketed thousands of percent in a short time. But I am not sure if any others can claim a gain of over one million percent in the last 50 years or less. If there was another, it was likely a penny stock. A one cent stock going to $100 (adjusting for splits) would be a one million percent increase, so maybe it has happened.