Wesco Annual Meeting, May 7, 2008

Notes courtesy of Peter Boodell

NBR anchor Susie Gharib talks with Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett at his company’s 2008 shareholders’ meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. This extended interview is a web exclusive.

EXCLUSIVE: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates reveal their thoughts to FOX Business on the Microsoft-Yahoo fallout, the state of the economy and where they are looking to invest next

THIS IS A LIVE BLOG OF THE QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSION BEING HELD BY WARREN BUFFETT AND CHARLIE MUNGER AT THE BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING IN OMAHA. MOST RECENT DISPATCHES WILL APPEAR AT THE TOP. ALL TIMES ARE CENTRAL.

THIS IS THE FIRST HALF OF THE BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING AT THE QWEST ARENA IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA ON SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2008 AS LIVE-BLOGGED ON WARREN BUFFETT WATCH. ALL TIMES ARE CENTRAL.

On Wednesday the 7th, Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) officially began to trade. Its $25 price tag is lower than many expected after the soft-drink maker was spun-off of its parent company, Cadbury Schweppes.

Pabrai began by reiterating the notion that we as investors or entrepreneurs should look for opportunities with low risk but high uncertainty. If your risk is low, losses will be not break you. Since Wall Street hates uncertainty, it tends to misinterpret certain situations and companies, over-punishing them in the process. This gives patient, diligent value investors a potential advantage.

The Mortgage Crisis

Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue of T2 Partners kicked off day 2 with a sobering look at the mortgage crisis. For his part, Tilson believes that we have not yet seen the worst.

Ken Shubin Stein, of Spencer Capital, laid out his philosophy, which includes:

• Looking for asymmetric payoffs (limited downside, with much upside)

• Bottom-up fundamental analysis

• A “scientific” research process

• Belief that volatility is the key to successful long term investing

Just returned from the Wesco shareholders meeting and, in general, felt the questions were much better than the ones asked at the BRK meeting. Yes, there were still the occasional, “How do I make a gazillion dollars like you did?” questions, but many more questions were about the future of the economy, derivatives, and BRK/WSC.