A subscriber just emailed and asked me if I would trim Berkshire. On May 11 below I mentioned I would consider that. It was last rated here as (lower) Buy at $111.82 on May 11. Now it is at $114.75.
So perhaps being in a bit of a selling mood this morning I have now sold 400 of the 1200 shares I had. In my kids RESP account I had 200 shares and was up 57% and sold 100. In another account I had 1000 shares (B shares obviously) and was up about 32%. I sold 300. Logically having a gain or a loss on a share in a non-taxable account should not enter into the thinking about selling it at all. Selling should be based on the current price of the stock versus its perceived value and prospects. But emotionally it does always seem easier to sell something with a gain on it. Obviously I may regret selling these because Berkshire is doing very well on its various businesses. Also many Johnny come lately analysts are suddenly much more fond of the stock and Buffett now that it has risen so much. But I think trimming this after recent gains is prudent. It’s up 28% this year. It was up 18% in 2012. That is a HUGE amount of gains for such a large company.