Big boost for Berkshire's Chinese electric car bet

Why Berkshire's stake in a Chinese electric car maker grew this week.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE FRI, JAN 17, 2020 WARREN BUFFETT WATCH Berkshire's bet on electric cars gets a boost Berkshire Hathaway's 25% stake in BYD, China's big manufacturer of electric and hybrid vehicles, grew in value this week as that country signaled there will be "no significant cuts" of subsidies this year for purchases of "new energy vehicles."   A subsidy decrease last July severely hurt sales, prompting BYD to warn its 2019 profit could fall as much as 43%. Investors had worried there would be another subsidy reduction this year.   In Hong Kong, BYD shares gained 5.5% today and 23.9% this week to end at 48 Hong Kong dollars. They've soared around 475% since Berkshire invested in September, 2008, although they're down from their highest levels over that period.   Even so, Berkshire's paper profit is around $1 billion.     Berkshire's 2008 investment in BYD was driven by Buffett's business partner, Charlie Munger.   At the 2009 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Munger told shareholders why he thought BYD was a "damn miracle."   There's only audio available for that meeting, but I've added the transcript from our Warren Buffett Archive to the clip to make it easier to follow along. BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription A Forbes contributor asks "Is Buffett Wrong About Companies 'Doing Good'?" Yahoo Finance UK reports "Warren Buffett is boosting his London property business" Al Root at Barron's thinks "Warren Buffett Should Buy FedEx. It's Cheap and Elephant-Sized." Barron's also notes that "Alaska Sold Berkshire, Apple, Verizon, and Broadcom Stock as 2019 Ended" The Intercept looks into "How Massive Donations from Howard G. Buffett Helped Block the Opening of a Pot Dispensary in Illinois" Inc. lists "9 Books Warren Buffett Thinks You Should Read This Year" BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH         BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS  Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of September 30, 2019, as disclosed in the company's November 14 13F SEC filing.   The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.   QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)   If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.    -- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service   Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS