Bank of America stock buys hit $2 billion, with 7% paper profit
| Bank of America stock buys hit $2 billion After twelve straight days of buying, Berkshire Hathaway has spent $2.1 billion to buy more than 85 million more shares of Bank of America, which was already its second-largest U.S. stock stake after Apple.
As of tonight's (Friday) close at $26.11 per share, Berkshire's 1.0 billion shares are worth just under $27 billion. It owns 11.9% of the bank's outstanding shares. (Berkshire's Apple shares are worth $111.5 billion.)
Since it's paid an average price of $24.33, Berkshire has a paper profit of more than $151 million, or 7.3%, on the newly-acquired shares.
There could be more to come. The most recent filing covered purchases through Tuesday. But as of 10 pm ET today (Friday), there hasn't been another disclosure.  Bank analyst Mike Mayo tells CNBC's "The Exchange" he thinks Berkshire is "on the right track," predicting "bank stocks have the potential to increase by 50% over the next 18 to 24 months." But on "Fast Money Halftime," Virtus Investment Partners' Joe Terranova isn't as optimistic. Buffett "could buy it for another 12 days. He can't really fix the headwinds that are challenging the money center banks."
Unlike JPMorgan Chase, which Terranova thinks is the "best in breed," Bank of America has "significant consumer exposure -- debt it has and the absence of trading revenue."
Earnings report coming tomorrow In a news release, Berkshire Hathaway says its second quarter earnings news release and 10-Q filing will be available on its website around 8 am ET (7 Central) tomorrow morning (Saturday).
Watch for what may be a big increase in Berkshire's buybacks.
Bloomberg notes UBS thinks the company may have bought back more than $5 billion of its own stock from late April through early July.
It quotes analyst Brian Meredith telling clients, "One of the biggest frustrations with Berkshire has been its minimal share buyback despite its shares trading at a significant discount to intrinsic value and its massive cash position. BRK's shares continue to look inexpensive, and we would look favorably on a continuation of large-scale share buybacks."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Tara Lachapelle asks, "Warren Buffett, How About an Earnings Call?"
She thinks "not having any regular forum to hear from Buffett and Berkshire's other executives is especially unfortunate during a global pandemic and recession in which shareholders are seeking direction."
Doris Buffett (1928-2020)  Since 2006, Warren Buffett has donated more than $37 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares to several foundations, with the bulk going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
But this week, he told the Omaha World-Herald that Doris Buffett, his older sister, is "far more philanthropic than I am."
"She gave time as well as money. She did that 10 hours a day. She really wanted to know their stories."
As Buffett told shareholders at the 2008 Berkshire annual meeting, Doris did the "retail" philanthropy while he preferred "wholesale" giving. She did that, in part, by going through the many letters Warren receives asking for his help. Doris would decide who was the most deserving -- "decent people who just didn't have the breaks somebody else did" -- and send money, with the average gift around $5000.
But, as Warren told the New York Times, "She would talk to every one of these people; she didn't just write a check. She was enormously empathetic and did something about it."
Empathetic, but "in a very hard-nosed way. You didn't want to try and con her."
Doris Buffett died Tuesday of natural causes at her home in Rockport, Maine. She was 92.
Her grandson, Alex Buffett Rozek, told Bloomberg she surrounded by family and friends, listening to Billie Holiday.
"She was an amazing woman and she'll always be with us."
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
  BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS - July 00, 2020
 Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of March 31, 2020, as disclosed in the company's May 15 13F SEC filing, except for Bank of America, which is as of August 4, 2020, Bank of New York Mellon, which is as of April 8, 2020, and U.S. Bancorp, which is as of May 12, 2020.
The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
One week from today, on August 14, Berkshire is expected to disclose its U.S. stock holdings as of the end of the second quarter on June 30.
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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.)
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-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
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