Based on the passage from Berkshire Transcripts, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have previously used leverage to invest in businesses with good long-term prospects. However, they prefer not to increase leverage for Berkshire Hathaway currently, as they have a good way of generating funds through float and do not want to change course and potentially lower the ratings of their bonds.
Additionally, they do not want to operate a conservatively-leveraged company and then suddenly increase leverage. In terms of Berkshire Hathaway's investments, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B) Total Equity Investments Carried at Market document shows that as of December 31, 2022, the total value of all equity investments held by Berkshire Hathaway was $308.79 billion, which represents a decrease of 11.95% from the previous year.
Furthermore, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc (Warren Buffett) Fund Holdings document shows that as of December 31, 2022, the top 10 holdings of the fund included Apple Inc., Bank of America Corporation, Chevron Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, American Express Company, The Kraft Heinz Company, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Moody's Corporation, Activision Blizzard, Inc., and HP Inc. These holdings represent a concentration of 88.98% of the fund's portfolio. Overall, while Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have used leverage in the past to invest in businesses with good long-term prospects, they do not currently plan to increase leverage for Berkshire Hathaway.
Additionally, the financial data shows that Berkshire Hathaway's total equity investments carried at market have decreased, and the fund's top holdings include a mix of companies in various industries.
Berkshire Transcripts
There could be different advantages for Berkshire to wisely increase leverage these days. Some generally true for all the companies. Some Berkshire specific. And the Berkshire specific, most important one for me as a shareholder, is that the investment decision made to invest the funds would be made by the present team, you and the other managers.
Question is then, why not go out and ask for several billions in bonds with a long maturity, and maybe even with some earlier endorsement or callable options embedded at Berkshire discretion, and good — and make a good use of it? Thank you.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Website
BRK-B Total Equity Investments Carried at Market
Metric
Dec '22
Dec '21
Dec '20
Dec '19
Dec '18
Dec '17
Dec '16
Dec '15
Dec '14
Dec '13
Dec '12
Total Equity Investments Carried at Market 308,793 350,719 281,170 248,027 172,757 170,540 122,032 112,338 117,470 117,505 87,662
% Chg. (YoY) -11.95% 24.74% 13.36% 43.57% 1.3% 39.75% 8.63% -4.37% -0.03% 34.04% —
Berkshire Transcripts
And I think that’s good, good for the shareholders. WARREN BUFFETT: I think people may think that what we get turned on is by finding some stock we’d like to buy. That’s fine. But what really — there’s no comparison — what really turns us on is finding a business that we want to buy, and that fits well for Berkshire, and that’ll be earning money for Berkshire 10 and 20 and 50 years from now.
That’s what we’re — that’s what we’ve been trying to build for 49 years. And marketable securities have played a big part in that, because the profits that we’ve made from them have helped do that, and it’s a great place to deploy capital on an — you know, it’s easy to do there.
Berkshire Transcripts
Leverage is the biggest danger to investors WARREN BUFFETT: OK, we’re going to take one more from number 6. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you very much, Mr. Munger and Mr. Buffett. My question regards — well, I’m Michael Stofski (PH) from New York.
My question regards financial institutions and the potential of collapses. And how is Berkshire protected, and how can the individual investor protect themselves against potential bank failures, stock brokerage failures, and things like that?
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Website
BRK-B Total Equity Investments Carried at Cost
Metric
Dec '22
Dec '21
Dec '20
Dec '19
Dec '18
Dec '17
Dec '16
Dec '15
Dec '14
Dec '13
Dec '12
Total Equity Investments Carried at Cost 131,610 104,605 108,620 110,340 102,867 74,676 65,828 58,612 55,056 56,581 49,796
% Chg. (YoY) 25.82% -3.7% -1.56% 7.26% 37.75% 13.44% 12.31% 6.46% -2.7% 13.63% —
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (Warren Buffett) Fund Holdings
Company
Market Value
Portfolio %
Shares
Shares % Chg.
Ownership %
Apple Inc. Website
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
116.31B
38.90%
895.14M
0.04% 5.48%
Bank of America Corporation Website
Bank Of America Corporation (BAC)
33.45B
11.19%
1.01B
— 12.38%
Chevron Corporation Website
Chevron Corporation (CVX)
29.25B
9.78%
162.98M
-1.44% 8.40%
The Coca-Cola Company Website
The Coca-cola Company (KO)
25.44B
8.51%
400M
— 9.20%
American Express Company Website
American Express Company (AXP)
22.4B
7.49%
151.61M
— 20.24%
The Kraft Heinz Company Website
The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC)
13.26B
4.43%
325.63M
— 26.37%
Occidental Petroleum Corporation Website
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY)
12.24B
4.09%
194.35M
— 19.39%
Moody's Corporation Website
Moody's Corporation (MCO)
6.87B
2.30%
24.67M
— 13.41%
Activision Blizzard, Inc. Website
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI)
4.04B
1.35%
52.72M
-12.35% 6.68%
HP Inc. Website
Hp Inc. (HPQ)
2.81B
0.94%
104.48M
— 9.95%
100%
Based on the financial data provided, one strategy for zero day options expiration with low capital could be to focus on selling options with a high probability of expiring worthless. As mentioned in the book "Fooled by Randomness," option sellers generally make steady money, but it requires some strength of character to accept the expectation of bleeding a little, losing pennies on a steady basis even if the strategy is bound to be profitable over longer periods.
Additionally, the CME Group Inc. transcript for Fiscal Q1 2023 notes that same-day expiring options or zero DTEs have seen significant growth, up over 41% in Q1 versus the 2022 full year volume. This trend is likely to continue as investors seek more precise risk management.
Therefore, selling options with a high probability of expiring worthless, such as out-of-the-money options, may be a viable strategy for zero day options expiration with low capital.
