Sales & Marketing news

• BUFFETT ON REPUBLICAN HEALTHCARE BILL: 'It's a huge tax cut for guys like me'

  06-05-2017 22:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett thinks that the US healthcare system is broken.
  The legendary investor said costs for healthcare have exploded in the US and are holding back business growth.
  Buffett pointed out corporate tax payments as a percentage of GDP have shrunk from 4% in 1960 to just 2% now. On the other hand, medical costs have ballooned from 5% of GDP to 17% of GDP currently.
  "Medical costs are the tapeworm of American economic competitiveness," Buffett said.
  Buffett said that the lower rate of healthc
  
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• THE HIGHLIGHTS: Warren Buffett talks about investing, technology, risks, and mistakes

  06-05-2017 22:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Welcome to a special Warren Buffett-themed edition of Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.
  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hosted its annual meeting on Saturday.
  The event has become a huge occasion and is sometimes called "Woodstock for Capitalists" or "Buffettpalooza." Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger answered around five hours of questions. Here are the headlines from the day:
  BUFFETT: Jack Bogle is going to save Ameri
  
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• A nonprofit set up by a hedge fund legend is tackling the No.1 question for corporate America

  06-05-2017 22:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Corporate America is out of touch. 
  A majority of Americans believe that corporations are headed in the wrong direction, and that business leaders do not understand the challenges they face.
  The biggest question in corporate America right now is how to change that. For some, increased regulation is the answer, while others propose deregulation. There's the potential for public pressure, through marches, protests, and media attention.  
  Just Capital, a nonprofit organization set up by&
  
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• 'The department store is online now': Warren Buffett says the face of retail is shifting

  06-05-2017 21:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett thinks retail in America is going through a huge transition.
  At the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Buffett said there is clearly pain for retailers as they adjust to the growth of online shopping.
  "The department store is online now," Buffett said, noting that the shift could be hard to grapple with for the major retailers.
  Buffett's partner, Charlie Munger, agreed that the retail business has become incredibly difficult.
  "It would certainly be unpleasant if we were
  
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• TRUMP ADVISER: The president's 'lack of predictability has gained respect' from world leaders

  06-05-2017 21:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  LOS ANGELES – Tom Barrack, an adviser to President Trump and real estate manager, told an audience of Wall Street execs that Trump's unpredictability has gained respect from foreign leaders.
  Barrack, executive chairman of Colony NorthStar, noted the president's recent attack on Syria while speaking on a panel May 2 at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.
  "That lack of predictability has gained respect," Barrack said. "Every foreign leader has come to the table for him."
  
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• BUFFETT: This is 'the number one problem with mankind' (BRK.A, BRK.B)

  06-05-2017 21:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett sees cyber attacks as a bigger threat to humanity than nuclear weapons.
  "I'm very pessimistic on weapons of mass destruction generally although I don't think that nuclear probably is quite as likely as either primarily biological and maybe cyber," Buffett said during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting on Saturday.
  "I don't know that much about cyber, but I do think that's the number one problem with mankind." 
  Last year, Buffett said CNBC —
  
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• Obamacare isn't dead yet

  06-05-2017 21:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  When the House passed the American Health Care Act by a slim margin on Thursday, Republican lawmakers made their way to the White House for a celebration. 
  President Donald Trump joked with House Speaker Paul Ryan, mocking pundits who said the speaker didn't "have it." Ryan hailed the passage of the legislation he spearheaded successfully — finally, after three tries.
  "We've got a lot of work to do, but one thing is now clear: Republicans are committed to keeping our promise
  
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• BUFFETT: Here's the kind of person I'd like to head up Berkshire Hathaway when I'm gone

  06-05-2017 19:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Even though the person may not replicate his investing track record, whoever replaces Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO will take one of the most prominent positions in finance. 
  Ajit Jain, who heads up the conglomerate's reinsurance businesses, has long been considered Buffett's likely successor. 
  But without getting into details of who will eventually replace him, Buffett told shareholders at the annual meeting what he'd like to see in a successor, following a
  
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• MUNGER: 'I do think the Chinese stock market is cheaper than the American stock market'

  06-05-2017 19:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Charlie Munger is bullish on China.
  The vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway responded to a question from a Chinese investor at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting about the future of the Chinese market.
  "I do think the Chinese stock market is cheaper than the American stock market," Munger said. "I do think that China has a bright future."
  Munger said the country's room for further economic growth will allow it to see a boom in investments going forward, but did caution there would be "gr
  
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• Buffett says Trump's tax plan would be good for Berkshire, but won't change how they do business

  06-05-2017 18:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett thinks that President Donald Trump's massive tax cut plan will help Berkshire Hathaway's bottom line but won't change the way it invests in its business.
  Buffett noted that the possibility of a corporate and investment tax cut will likely be beneficial to the profits of Berkshire Hathaway. The Berkshire CEO said that the drop in the investment tax would lower their deferred tax obligations for gains on their investment would drop.
  "We have $90 or $95 billion in gains, and our owne
  
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• A millennial asked Warren Buffett what value his firm adds — here's what he said

  06-05-2017 18:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  When retired journalist Carol Loomis stepped to the microphone at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting, she posed a question sent in from the younger generation.
  The apparent "millennial" (Loomis' word) wanted to know what value Berkshire offers the companies in which it invests, and by extension the firm's own shareholders. Apple gives the world iPhones, while 3G Capital improves operations, he argued, but what does Berkshire do?
  The investment conglomerate adds value throu
  
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• BUFFETT: There will be economic troubles, but 'we know that America will come out fine'

  06-05-2017 18:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett isn't too worried about any problems appearing in the US economy.
  Buffett has long held the belief that the American economy will do just fine, and he reiterated that belief at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting.
  "When the rest of the world is fearful, we know that America will come out fine," Buffett said.
  In fact, Buffett leaned on his old adage and said that in economic downturns, Berkshire Hathaway is likely to come out on top. The downturn in the economy makes in
  
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• CHARLIE MUNGER: 'A lot of other people are trying to be brilliant. We're just trying to be rational.'

  06-05-2017 17:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Charlie Munger just dropped a nugget of wisdom at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting on Saturday.
  "A lot of other people are trying to be brilliant. We're just trying to be rational," he said.
  "Trying to be brilliant is dangerous, particularly when you're gambling."
  In other words, while other people may try to get too fancy in their investing bets, it's best to just stick with the rational basics.
  Munger is the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warr
  
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• 'THAT'S MORE OF A SPEECH THAN A QUESTION': Anti-Coca Cola protester interrupts Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting

  06-05-2017 17:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  During Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, a protester stepped up to ask a question that appeared to be more about expressing her worldview than finding out Warren Buffett's and Charlie Munger's ideas.
  After pointing out the motto "In God We Trust" printed on the US currency, the questioner, reading from a printed statement, suggested that Buffett's priorities put money over social considerations.
  The questioner shifted to asking about the ethics of Coca Cola, in which Berkshire Hathaway h
  
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• 'WE BLEW IT': Charlie Munger says it was a mistake for Berkshire Hathaway to not invest in Google and Walmart (GOOGL, WMT)

  06-05-2017 17:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Berkshire Hathaway wants to apologize.
  During the investment conglomerate's 2017 annual shareholder meeting, vice chairman Charlie Munger admitted Berkshire missed the boat on Google and Walmart.
  "We failed you there," he said, calling the firm's decision to not invest in the two companies its "worst mistake."
  "We were smart enough to figure it out and we didn't," said Munger.
  The comments stemmed from New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin's question asking why Berkshire sold a third
  
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• 'JEFF BEZOS IS A DIFFERENT SPECIES': Buffett and Munger praise Bezos, Amazon (AMZN)

  06-05-2017 17:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are big fans of Jeff Bezos.
  At the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, the legendary investors praised the Amazon CEO saying that his ability to grow Amazon's business while running other projects like The Washington Post and Blue Origin was incredible.
  "Jeff Bezos is a different species," Munger said.
  Buffett said that Bezos has built Amazon into a dual threat as an amazing online retailer and the burgeoning dominance of its cloud computing business.
  B
  
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• BUFFETT: Driverless vehicles 'won't be a good thing' for business (BRK.A)

  06-05-2017 17:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The first analyst question at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting on Saturday was about the threat of self-driving technology.
  "If they make the world safer it's going to be a very good thing, but it won't be a good thing for auto insurers," Buffett said.
  Self-driving cars have moved from a futuristic dream to a technology that corporations from BMW to Alphabet and Apple are investing in. Buffett said he thinks widespread adoption of self-driving cars is further down the
  
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• BUFFETT: Wells Fargo made 3 huge mistakes during the fake accounts scandal but one 'dwarfs all the others'

  06-05-2017 16:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Warren Buffett said that the biggest failure of the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal should be laid at former CEO John Stumpf's feet.
  Wells Fargo settled with regulators in September after it was revealed that employees had opened as many as 2 million accounts in the names of customers without their knowledge. This launched a massive investigation, two congressional hearings, and eventually led to former CEO John Stumpf stepping down.
  During the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting,
  
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