One of the hard parts about studying companies is recognizing how singular transactions can change the risks associated with the business even though the outward appearance remains the same. It is hard recognizing in real time that the General Re acquisition began Berkshire Hathaway’s shift from relying on stock portfolio dividends towards relying on sourced profits from operating companies. It is hard recognizing in real time that Harley Davidson had grown its financing empire to such a point that more money came from the financing on customers’ motorcycles than came from the actual sales of motorcycles.
Obviously, as General Electric shareholders long remember, the company reached a point in which half of its profits came from GE Capital and the other half came from GE Industrial. Even though most analysts consider the breadth of GE’s financial operations to be a problem, my opinion is that there is nothing wrong with … Read the rest of this article!