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Strategies & Market Trends : Graham and Doddsville -- Value Investing In The New Era -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (1058)	12/20/1998 2:56:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Berkshire versus Loews In the November 30, 1998 (p. 24) Barron's, there's an interesting comparison between Berkshire Hathaway and Loews: "Loews is sometimes compared to Berkshire Hathaway and found wanting. Both are holding companies that fund investments with the cash flow from their large insurance units. Berkshire has been far more successful than Loews in the past decade because Warren Buffett has heavily tilted Berkshire toward stocks, picking such winners as Cocas-Cola, Gillette and American Express. Fifteen years ago, Loews and Berkshire both had market values of around $2.5 billion, but Berkshire is now worth over $80 billion; Loews, $12 billion." After the article details Loews' many shortcomings, it goes on to say: "Loews' fans note that the stock trades at little more than a 10% premium to its book value, while Berkshire trades at over 2.5 times book. [Fund manager Harry Rosenbluth] argues that [Loews insurance subsidiary] CNA is itself undervalued, quoted at 92% of book value -- making it one of the few big insurers below book."