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Pastimes : The Naked Truth - Big Kahuna a Myth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lucretius who wrote (18421)	2/6/1999 8:13:00 PM
From: accountclosed	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86076

I see you've been tormenting dellheads. Are you taking a good size chunk of puts through the 16th?

To: Lucretius who wrote (18421)	2/7/1999 12:01:00 AM
From: wlheatmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86076

February 7, 1999 INVESTING DIARY Digging Into Berkshire Turns Up a Best Seller Paine Webber's pioneering research report on Berkshire Hathaway, Warren E. Buffett's celebrated holding company, is proving to be a literary hit rivaling the chairman's own annual letter to shareholders. Despite an initial order of 10,000 copies, triple the usual run, supplies are running short, and a second printing is expected, probably in a matter of weeks, according to Alice D. Schroeder, the author. She is the first analyst on Wall Street to bring an insurance perspective to the study of Berkshire, which has often been regarded -- especially before its acquisition last year of General Re -- as little more than a shrewdly assembled stock portfolio. Ms. Schroeder, who began researching Berkshire last summer, was subsequently asked by Buffett, who was impressed with her approach, to be his designated analyst. In the fall he invited her to Omaha, where Berkshire is based, to provide access to managers who could help her put the wealth of publicly available information on Berkshire into perspective. Paine Webber could not say how much of the demand for copies of Ms. Schroeder's 54-page report was from outsiders, but many investors clearly think enough of it to pay $540 for it, or $10 a page, a not unheard-of cost for superior Wall Street work. Paine Webber customers get copies free. Berkshire's A shares soared $11,500 during the first three trading days last week, closing on Wednesday at $76,500, before retreating to $71,600 on Friday. This was still well short of the intrinsic value of between $91,000 and $97,000 that Ms. Schroeder assigned to the stock in her report. As for Buffett's own next publishing effort, this year's Berkshire annual report is to be mailed in mid-March. It contains "a few surprises" about this year's shareholder meeting, to be held May 3, according to a Berkshire spokeswoman. On-line access to Buffett's latest thinking, at www.berkshirehathaway.com, is to be available on March 13. Robert D. Hershey Jr.