I sometimes entertain myself by reading about businesses associated with the Old World. My latest project is the Crown Estate, which as its name implies, is owned by the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. The Crown Estate’s chief asset is a large property portfolio in the heart of London, centered around one of the world’s great […]

A fun (and deceptively insightful) Rick Reilly column about Warren Buffett’s contest to insure the NCAA college basketball bracket. Buffett’s skills as an insurance underwriter are underrated, and are an underrated contributor to Berkshire Hathaway’s value. One of these days I’ll try to connect his underwriting skills to his investing skills, and will try to […]

Berkshire Hathaway released its annual letter to shareholders last Saturday, and as usual Warren Buffett used an extended section of the letter to teach a general lesson on investing. In this year’s lesson, entitled “Some Thoughts on Investing,” Buffett discussed two non-stock investments he made years ago and continues to hold: a farm in Nebraska, […]