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Strategies & Market Trends : Buffettology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cfimx who wrote (2440)	4/21/2000 4:51:00 PM
From: LauA	Respond to of 4691

Quick Week-end read: oid.com Lau

To: cfimx who wrote (2440)	4/24/2000 10:41:00 AM
From: Freedom Fighter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4691

At what price does MSFT become a value play?

To: cfimx who wrote (2440)	5/1/2000 9:29:00 AM
From: Bob Rudd	Respond to of 4691

Buffett on Newspapers: Below are quotes that aren't 'New ground' substantively to those who've been on the thread for awhile, but are interesting considering the source. Also gives insight into Buffett's concern about competitive impact of technology Buffett Sees Internet As A Worrisome Threat To Newspapers Omaha, Nebraska, April 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Internet may threaten the prospects of some businesses, though it's particularly ominous for newspapers, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s billionaire chairman, told investors. Berkshire owns 18 percent of the Washington Post Co., its largest stake in a publicly traded company, and owns outright the Buffalo News in Buffalo, New York. ``Newspapers are a category that (is) very threatened by the Internet,'' said Buffett. ``The newspaper world, in my view, will look very, very different in not so many years.'' Buffett said he is particularly attuned to the damage the Internet can do, citing his experience with World Book, an encyclopedia line and Berkshire product. ``World Book is a terrific product, but the Internet changed that business in a very major way,'' said Buffett. He said that many investors may still value newspaper stocks based on values before the Internet presented a challenge. Some newspapers may also become locked in a costly battle to provide information over the Internet without realizing that the economics don't work. ``We would have thought 20 or 25 years ago that a newspaper in a one-newspaper town is probably about as solid an investment as you can find,'' said Buffett. ``But events have changed that to some degree maybe to a very big degree. We will occasionally re- evaluate.'' Buffett also said that given the opportunity to buy another newspaper company, like the Omaha Herald, he'd pass because of the uncertainty involved in the business. ``You had such structural advantages that you could put your idiot nephew in and it wouldn't make any difference'' said Buffett. ``Now you could put in a genius. It may work and it may not.'' He also said he was unsure what threats and opportunities technology would bode but "it will become an increasingly important issue on how it affects our businesses." [sorry, can't post link on the above but bloomberg lacks an onsite search engine and I got if searching AOL business news] ......FROM OTHER ATICLES: Noting that among Berkshire's properties is the Buffalo daily newspaper, Buffalo News, he said, "Newspapers are a category that is very threatened by the Internet." He said the Internet had a distinct advantage over newspapers in that it had virtually no delivery costs. He also said that in "not too many years" the newspaper would look "very very different" because of the Web. As a result, he said he was "puzzled" over what some people are paying for newspaper properties today. "They have their billfold in the past," he said. bob