~ OT ~ Mohan: It seems like Buffet doesn't understand how the market values tech and internet stocks.....He is a legendary investor BUT his shareholders would be MUCH BETTER OFF if he invested in the blue chips in the tech sector -- firms like AOL, CSCO, DELL, MSFT and YHOO should have been on his shopping list a while ago....Where's the real growth in sales and earnings going to come from in the future? I sure wouldn't bet on Coke, Mcdonalds, or The Washington Post <G>. The digital economy is creating great opportunities for smart investors. Here is a summary of some of Buffet's comments from the recent Allen Summit in Sun Valley....
<<Buffett to moguls -- Internet stox in for shock
Updated 9:22 PM ET July 11, 1999 By Chris Petrikin
SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Variety) - On the final day of investment banker Herbert Allen Jr.'s annual summer camp for media moguls, Warren Buffett offered a sober warning to attendees that investors in Internet stocks are due for a reality check.
In his usual homespun manner, the billionaire investor on Saturday offered a somewhat contrarian take on the booming technology and Internet sectors, which had taken centerstage at this year's conference for money managers and corporate titans.
"He was funny and so down to earth, but he essentially said, 'Fellas, this is going to end, and end hard, and a lot of people are going to be left bankrupt,"' one attendee said.
Buffett likened the Internet to the airline industry, which saw phenomenal growth early on but has consolidated over the years until only a few major players remain.
The standing ovation upon the conclusion of his address could be heard outside the meeting room where journalists gathered to buttonhole executives as they left.
Buffet was followed by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who offered a more optimistic view of the Internet and the great advances to come in software and hardware.
Following Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley, who addressed the crowd briefly on Saturday morning, Buffett and Gates were the final speakers at this year's Sun Valley, Idaho, retreat, which focused more than ever on new media and technology and less on traditional entertainment industries like film and television.
"The focus is definitely more on computers, technology and the Internet as it relates to software ... and not as entertainment-centric as in the past," said International Creative Management chairman Jeff Berg, an invited guest.
Before his speech, Gates insisted that New Yorker magazine writer Ken Auletta, who is working on a book about Microsoft, not be allowed into the meeting, the only one that Auletta was barred from attending. While Auletta was one of a handful of journalists (including Diane Sawyer, Charlie Rose and Tom Brokaw) who were invited guests of Allen, it was the uninvited news contingent that caused a stir.
While there was speculation that some big negotiations were in the works, no major deals were concluded during the four-day event. Looking for new alliances with Internet companies, however, executives from traditional media conglomerates put the time between sponsored seminars and discussions -- and before such leisure activities as biking, river rafting, golf and tennis -- to good use, meeting with the heads of such hot new-media companies as Yahoo!, Amazon.com and Lycos.
Among the various powwows that piqued the interest of journalists and moguls alike were CBS chief executive Mel Karmazin's lunch with Lycos CEO Bob Davis, while the News Corp. contingent of president Peter Chernin, Fox Television chairman Chase Carey, Lachlan and James Murdoch gathered behind closed doors with executives from France's Canal Plus and Vivendi.
News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch was a no-show at the event (although Buffett hinted during his speech that Murdoch might show up for Saturday's closing dinner to show off his new wedding ring), but the media giant's contingent were among the most active during the event.
Chernin and Carey were also seen consorting with software billionaire Paul Allen, who had many meetings around the Sun Valley expanse, while the Murdoch scions spent Thursday evening and much of Friday in discussions with Jerry Yang of Yahoo!
Judging from the reactions of the attendees, the conference also served as a quasi-coronation of two executives as pace setters for the future media industry: AT&T chief executive Michael Armstrong and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, who each gave presentations.
"They were both phenomenal," one attendee said. "They have such a grasp of their businesses and the global market that these are definitely the guys to watch. Jobs is an amazing and captivating storyteller, and Armstrong has moved beyond gatekeeper -- he now owns the gate."
DreamWorks principal Jeffrey Katzenberg made a splash when he arrived late to the event, hot off his multimillion-dollar settlement with Disney. An obviously invigorated Katzenberg, who declined to discuss the case or settlement with the press, was seen hugging Chernin and accepting pats on the back from a small gathering of executives in the resort's lobby. (Disney chairman Michael Eisner was a no-show.)
The 17th installment of the Allen confab garnered vastly increased media attention. In its first years of existence, few in the press had any interest in covering the power retreat; this time around, so many journalists showed up that Allen and some of his guests seemed irritated and confused over how to deal with the onslaught.
Journalists representing the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Bloomberg News, USA Today, the Financial Times, the Guardian, Business Week and Daily Variety were joined by satellite trucks and broadcast journalists from CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg TV.
Though organizers provided a makeshift press room (safely distanced from the meeting areas and equipped with only two phone lines), they seemed ill-prepared for the record number of journalists who gathered to cover the high-profile confab.
Because all meetings and "coffee break" areas were strictly off limits for the press, the newsies were left with the uneasy task of buttonholing power players when they took a bathroom break or recessed between panels.
While several top executives, such as Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone and the Murdoch brothers, graciously took time out to speak with the various business reporters sent to cover the event, others were put off by the attention.
Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei was approached while he briefly nodded off in the hotel lobby and was reportedly discomfited by an item in Thursday's edition of the New York Post proclaiming that Sony was talking to CBS and NBC about possible partnership deals -- reports that corporate spokesmen denied.
USA Networks chairman Barry Diller avoided the media Wednesday by biking around the lush resort -- although his disappearance the next day left some to speculate that Diller was finagling some major deal.
"I'm in business with Barry, and I can't even find him -- he's up to something," a prominent money manager said. While no deals were unveiled, Diller re-emerged Friday and was seen at lunchtime leading an impromptu discussion under the trees -- with security keeping reporters at bay.
Reuters/Variety >>
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They fail to mention that MSD was at the conference. IMO, he clearly is one of the sharpest investors and CEOs of all the famous attendees.!!
Here are some comments on Buffet from the CMGI thread...
Message 10477763
techstocks.com
Best Regards,
Scott |
