>From the year 2000 annual report of Berkshire Hathaway,
The fact is that a bubble market has allowed the creation of bubble
companies, entities designed more with an eye to making money off
investors rather than for them. Too often, an IPO, not profits, was
the primary goal of a company's promoters. At bottom, the "business
model" for these companies has been the old-fashioned chain letter,
for which many fee-hungry investment bankers acted as eager postmen.
and earlier, summarizing Berkshire's own acquisitions:
I will detail our purchases in the next section of the report. But I
will tell you now that we have embraced the 21st century by entering
such cutting-edge industries as brick, carpet, insulation and
paint. Try to control your excitement.
(Although he also points out that with GEICO doing considerable
business on the net, he's running "one of the very few authentic
"clicks and bricks" businesses around", adding "You can bet this move
by Berkshire is making them *sweat* in Silicon Valley").
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2000ar/2000letter.html
rst
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