This report with analysis will take you deeper into facts and finances in the world of Warren Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway.  For the detail-oriented industry professional, you should walk away with a better insight into the money trail, methods, thinking and behavior of Buffett. Meaning, this is a proverbial trip into the man’s mind based on corporate and other financial facts, his statements, patterns of behaviors, their investments and insights from others. According to the annual Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) letter by Warren Buffett on Feb 24, 2024 — “Berkshire has more than three million shareholder accounts.” While that may be true, much of Berkshire is owned by insiders and institutional investors. Some of the most significant companies in their respective area of operation in manufactured housing are owned by Berkshire Hathway. So, it is perhaps no surprise that those firms like Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF) have long held sway – along with others of similar orientation – at the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) for about two decades. Investopedia noted that at the time of the Buffett annual letter that the “The top three individual shareholders [at BRK] are Warren Buffett, Susan Buffett, and Ronald Olson” and that “The company’s [i.e.: BRK] top three institutional shareholders are Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street.” Before diving deeper into the details behind who owns Berkshire, some thoughts from Chairman Buffett are warranted (sorry, a play on his first name). More on Olson and MHVille at this link here.

What Part IV of this report will provide are insights from Berkshire that are generally ignored or are overlooked by others in MHVille trade media beyond MHProNews and our MHLivingNews sister site.

To understand Berkshire, one certainly must understand “the moat.”

But there is more, much more, because the patient and long-term thinkers will draw keen and useful insights from the mind and worldview of Buffett. That is arguably true even if someone disagrees with Buffett’s worldview, ethics, politics, and purportedly dubious business practices.  Meaning, you don’t have to agree with Buffett to learn how his mind and methods seem to work. This interlaced deeper dive could help your understanding of why he and others do what they do. It is arguably also an insight into the current state of new manufactured housing production and performance. Career and investment benefits could follow for focused, fact-driven, analytical thinkers.

To even better grasp what Berkshire considers significant are facts found in Part III of this report, which are straight from the data published by Berkshire Hathaway. The tease related to Apple will also appear there.

Buffett fans, Buffett foes, Buffett team members, Buffett’s allies and critics are accurately quoted. While this information is driven by facts and evidence, as a news analysis, it is also involving expert opinions by MHProNews and others.

 

Part I

Per Warren Buffett’s annual letter, linked here, are the following thoughts by Chairman Buffett. Readers are advised to keep in mind the analysis of Michael Lebowitz, plus and the statements made by Barrons, among others.

“Berkshire has more than three million shareholder accounts. I am charged with writing a letter every year that will be useful to this diverse and ever-changing group of owners, many of whom wish to learn more about their investment.

Charlie Munger, for decades my partner in managing Berkshire, viewed this obligation identically and would expect me to communicate with you this year in the regular manner. He and I were of one mind regarding our responsibilities to Berkshire shareholders.”

In part of Buffett’s reflection on his late, over half-century partnership with Charlie Munger, J.D., Buffett said: “Berkshire has become a great company. Though I have long been in charge of the construction crew; Charlie should forever be credited with being the architect.”

“In what I next relate, bear in mind that Charlie and his family did not have a dime invested in the small investing partnership that I was then managing and whose money I had used for the Berkshire purchase. Moreover, neither of us expected that Charlie would ever own a share of Berkshire stock.

Nevertheless, Charlie, in 1965, promptly advised me: “Warren, forget about ever buying another company like Berkshire. But now that you control Berkshire, add to it wonderful businesses purchased at fair prices and give up buying fair businesses at wonderful prices. In other words, abandon everything you learned from your hero, Ben Graham. It works but only when practiced at small scale.” With much back-sliding I subsequently followed his instructions.”

Also from his 2023 annual letter: “Our goal at Berkshire is simple: We want to own either all or a portion of businesses that enjoy good economics that are fundamental and enduring. Within capitalism, some businesses will flourish for a very long time while others will prove to be sinkholes. It’s harder than you would think to predict which will be the winners and losers. And those who tell you they know the answer are usually either self-delusional or snake-oil salesmen. ”

In 1863, Hugh McCulloch, the first Comptroller of the United States, sent a letter to all national banks. His instructions included this warning: “Never deal with a rascal under the expectation that you can prevent him from cheating you.” Many bankers who thought they could “manage” the rascal problem have learned the wisdom of Mr. McCulloch’s advice – and I have as well. People are not that easy to read. Sincerity and empathy can easily be faked. That is as true now as it was in 1863.”

Some more pull Buffett letter quotes:

• For whatever reasons, markets now exhibit far more casino-like behavior than they did when I was young.
• One fact of financial life should never be forgotten. Wall Street – to use the term in its
  figurative sense – would like its customers to make money, but what truly causes its denizens’
  juices to flow is feverish activity. At such times, whatever foolishness can be marketed will be
  vigorously marketed – not by everyone but always by someone.
• Occasionally, the scene turns ugly. The politicians then become enraged; the most flagrant
  perpetrators of misdeeds slip away, rich and unpunished; and your friend next door becomes
  bewildered, poorer and sometimes vengeful. Money, he learns, has trumped morality.
• Your company also holds a cash and U.S. Treasury bill position far in excess of what
  conventional wisdom deems necessary. During the 2008 panic, Berkshire generated cash from
  operations and did not rely in any manner on commercial paper, bank lines or debt markets. We
  did not predict the time of an economic paralysis but we were always prepared for one.
• The lesson from Coke and AMEX? When you find a truly wonderful business, stick with
  it. Patience pays, and one wonderful business can offset the many mediocre decisions that
  are inevitable. …
• At yearend, Berkshire owned 27.8% of Occidental Petroleum’s common shares and also
  owned warrants that, for more than five years, give us the option to materially increase our
  ownership at a fixed price. Though we very much like our ownership, as well as the option,
  Berkshire has no interest in purchasing or managing Occidental. We particularly like its vast oil
  and gas holdings in the United States, as well as its leadership in carbon-capture initiatives, though
  the economic feasibility of this technique has yet to be proven. Both of these activities are very
  much in our country’s interest. …
• And then – Hallelujah! – shale economics became feasible in 2011, and our energy
  dependency ended. Now, U.S. production is more than 13 million BOEPD, and OPEC no longer
  has the upper hand. Occidental itself has annual U.S. oil production that each year comes close to
  matching the entire inventory of the SPR. Our country would be very – very – nervous today if
  domestic production had remained at five million BOEPD, and it found itself hugely dependent
  on non-U.S. sources. At that level, the SPR would have been emptied within months if foreign oil
  became unavailable.

Part II

According to Yahoo Finance on 8.1.2024 is the following information as of about 12:03 PM ET.

652,774.00-6,437.00 (-0.98%)

As of 12:03 PM EDT.

Major Holders

Breakdown
37.50%	% of Shares Held by All Insiders
18.25%	% of Shares Held by Institutions
29.19%	% of Float Held by Institutions
1,184	Number of Institutions Holding Shares

 

Top Institutional Holders

Holder	Shares	Date Reported	% Out	Value
FMR, LLC	33.43k	Mar 31, 2024	5.94%	21,819,245,336
First Manhattan Company	15.31k	Mar 31, 2024	2.72%	9,994,504,146
Corient Private Wealth LLC	13.55k	Mar 31, 2024	2.41%	8,844,405,118
Cidel Asset Management, Inc.	9.77k	Jun 30, 2024	1.74%	6,376,457,092
Vista Capital Partners, Inc.	5.53k	Mar 31, 2024	0.98%	3,608,256,199
Norges Bank Investment Management	5.29k	Dec 31, 2023	0.94%	3,451,602,529
Gardner Russo & Quinn, LLC	2.13k	Mar 31, 2024	0.38%	1,391,606,768
Pflug Koory, LLC	1.9k	Mar 31, 2024	0.34%	1,240,174,887
HighTower Advisors, LLC	1.89k	Mar 31, 2024	0.34%	1,232,342,204
Davis Selected Advisers, LP	1.85k	Mar 31, 2024	0.33%	1,206,233,2

 

Top Mutual Fund Holders

Holder	Shares	Date Reported	% Out	Value
Fidelity Contrafund Inc	18.76k	May 31, 2024	3.34%	12,247,706,099
Fidelity Contrafund K6 Fund	3.94k	May 31, 2024	0.70%	2,570,425,635
Fidelity Advisor New Insights Fund	1.59k	May 31, 2024	0.28%	1,035,219,669
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund	1.05k	Mar 31, 2024	0.19%	686,012,529
Fidelity Series Opportunistic Insights Fund	1k	May 31, 2024	0.18%	655,334,519
SRH Total Return Fund, Inc.	1.03k	May 31, 2024	0.18%	670,999,886
Davis New York Venture Fund	895	Apr 30, 2024	0.16%	584,187,644
First Eagle Global Fund	675	Apr 30, 2024	0.12%	440,588,446
Legg Mason Clearbridge Appreciation Fd	504	Apr 30, 2024	0.09%	328,972,707
Tweedy Browne Global Value Fund	418	Mar 31, 2024	0.07%	272,838,475

 

Also per Yahoo Finance is the following. The yellow highlighting below is added by MHProNews.

NYSE – Nasdaq Real Time Price•USD

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B)

435.59-2.91(-0.66%)

As of 12:07 PM EDT. Market Open.

Major Holders

Breakdown
0.39%	% of Shares Held by All Insider
65.96%	% of Shares Held by Institutions
66.22%	% of Float Held by Institutions
4,786	Number of Institutions Holding Shares

Top Institutional Holders

Holder	Shares	Date Reported	% Out	Value
Vanguard Group Inc.	146.55M	Mar 31, 2024	11.18%	63,837,065,599
Blackrock Inc.	107.51M	Mar 31, 2024	8.20%	46,829,082,198
State Street Corporation	69.51M	Mar 31, 2024	5.30%	30,279,514,145
Geode Capital Management, LLC	35.33M	Mar 31, 2024	2.69%	15,387,575,546
Morgan Stanley	24.32M	Mar 31, 2024	1.85%	10,591,515,812
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust	17.3M	Mar 31, 2024	1.32%	7,537,055,958
Northern Trust Corporation	15.71M	Mar 31, 2024	1.20%	6,844,696,113
Bank Of New York Mellon Corporation	12.79M	Jun 30, 2024	0.98%	5,569,750,329
Norges Bank Investment Management	11.48M	Dec 31, 2023	0.88%	5,001,903,885
Price (T.Rowe) Associates Inc	10.81M	Mar 31, 2024	0.82%	4,709,325,489

 

Top Mutual Fund Holders

Holder	Shares	Date Reported	% Out	Value
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund	55.74M	Mar 31, 2024	4.25%	24,281,247,800
Vanguard 500 Index Fund	45.85M	Mar 31, 2024	3.50%	19,972,387,636
Fidelity 500 Index Fund	22.15M	May 31, 2024	1.69%	9,647,807,471
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	21.56M	Jun 30, 2024	1.64%	9,391,528,968
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	19.32M	Jun 30, 2024	1.47%	8,416,082,234
Vanguard Index-Value Index Fund	15.1M	Mar 31, 2024	1.15%	6,578,729,653
Select Sector SPDR Fund-Financial	12.35M	Jun 30, 2024	0.94%	5,378,531,548
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund-Institutional Index Fund	11.96M	Mar 31, 2024	0.91%	5,211,717,132
iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	4.39M	Jun 30, 2024	0.33%	1,913,031,550
Schwab Capital Trust-Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund	3.79M	Apr 30, 2024	0.29%	1,650,668,291

 

Part III About Clayton Homes From K-16 of Berkshire Annual Report and Beyond Clayton, Forest River Recreational Vehicles (RVs), Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices

1)

Building Products

Clayton

Clayton Homes, Inc. (“Clayton”), headquartered near Knoxville, Tennessee, is a vertically integrated housing company offering traditional site-built homes and off-site (factory) built housing, including modular, manufactured, CrossMod™ and tiny homes. In 2023, Clayton delivered approximately 43,000 off-site built and approximately 10,000 site-built homes. Clayton also offers home financing and other financial services and competes on price, service, location and delivery capabilities.

All Clayton Built® off-site built homes are designed, engineered and assembled in the U.S. As of December 2023, offsite backlog was $799 million, up over 200% from the prior year end. Clayton sells off-site built homes through independent and company-owned home centers, realtors and subdivision channels. Clayton considers its ability to offer financing to retail purchasers a factor affecting the marketplace acceptance of its off-site built homes. Clayton’s financing programs utilize proprietary loan underwriting guidelines to evaluate loan applicants.

Since 2015, Clayton’s site-built division, Clayton Properties Group, has expanded through the acquisition of nine builders across 18 states with over 290 subdivisions, supplementing the portfolio of housing products offered to customers. Clayton’s site-builders currently own and control approximately 67,000 homesites, with a home order backlog of approximately $1.6 billion as of December 2023.

Historically, access to key housing inputs such as lumber, steel and resin products has been adequate. During 2021 and the first half of 2022, the availability and pricing of these and other inputs was volatile. Input shortages coupled with reduced labor and subcontractor availability increased the time needed to construct a home, increasing the levels of work-in-process inventory. These constraints began to lessen in the latter half of 2022 due to improved availability and pricing of key inputs, increased order cancellations and lower overall demand for new home construction.

Clayton’s building products business benefited in recent years from the low interest rate environment and the strong residential construction market. However, the effects of significant increases in home mortgage interest rates in the U.S. over the past year has slowed demand for new home construction, partially mitigated by low supplies of pre-existing homes for sale. Clayton’s home building business regularly makes capital and non-capital expenditures with respect to compliance with federal, state and local environmental regulations, primarily related to erosion control, permitting and stormwater protection for site-built home subdivisions. The financing business originates and services loans which are federally regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, various state regulatory agencies and reviewed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Government National Mortgage Association and government-sponsored enterprises.”

 

Per page 149 Clayton Homes has 20,645 employees.

Clayton Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20,645

 

2)

Consumer Products

Recreational vehicles

Forest River, Inc. (“Forest River”), headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, is a manufacturer of recreational vehicles (“RV”), utility cargo trailers, buses and pontoon boats with products sold in the U.S. and Canada through an independent dealer network. Forest River has numerous manufacturing facilities located in six states and is a leading manufacturer of RVs with numerous brand names, including Forest River, Coachmen RV and Prime Time. Utility cargo trailers are sold under a variety of brand names. Buses are sold under several brand names, including Starcraft Bus. Pontoon boats are sold under the Berkshire, South Bay and Trifecta brand names.

The RV industry is highly competitive. Competition is based primarily on price, design, quality and service. The industry has consolidated over the past several years and is currently concentrated in a few companies, the largest of which had a market share of approximately 42% based on industry data as of September 2023. Forest River held a market share of approximately 33% at that time. Forest River is subject to regulations of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the safety standards for recreational vehicles established by the U.S. Department of Transportation and similar laws and regulations issued by the Canadian government. Forest River is a member of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, a voluntary association of RV manufacturers which promotes safety standards for RVs. Forest River believes its products comply in all material respects with the standards that govern its products.

 

Per page K149 Forest River has 11,907 employees.

Forest River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11,907

3)

MiTek

MiTek Industries, Inc. (“MiTek”), based in Chesterfield, Missouri, operates in two separate building markets: residential and commercial. MiTek operates worldwide with sales in over 60 countries and with manufacturing facilities and/or sales/engineering offices located in 20 countries.

In the residential building market, MiTek is a leading supplier of engineered connector products, construction hardware, engineering software and services, and computer-driven manufacturing machinery to the truss component market of the building components industry. MiTek’s primary customers are component manufacturers who manufacture prefabricated roof and floor trusses and wall panels for the residential building market. MiTek also sells construction hardware to commercial distributors and retail stores for do-it-yourself customers.

A significant raw material used by MiTek is hot dipped galvanized sheet steel. While supplies are presently adequate, variations in supply have historically occurred, producing significant variations in cost and availability.

According to page K149 Mitek employed 5,783 employees as of the reporting date.

MiTek Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5,783

 

4)

Non-Energy Businesses

HomeServices of America, Inc. (“HomeServices”) is a residential real estate brokerage firm in the U.S. In addition to providing traditional residential real estate brokerage services, HomeServices offers other integrated real estate services, including mortgage originations and mortgage banking, title and closing services, insurance, home warranties, relocation services and other home-related services. It operates under 50 brand names with approximately 41,000 real estate agents in nearly 900 brokerage offices in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

HomeServices’ franchise network currently includes approximately 300 franchisees and over 1,500 brokerage offices with nearly 48,000 real estate agents under two brand names, primarily in the U.S. In exchange for certain fees, HomeServices provides the right to use the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices or Real Living brand names and other related service marks, as well as providing orientation programs, training and consultation services, advertising programs and other services.

HomeServices’ principal sources of revenue are dependent on residential real estate transaction volumes, which are generally higher in the second and third quarters of each year. This business is highly competitive and subject to general real estate market conditions.

Per page K149 HomeServices of America has 5,803 employees.

HomeServices of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5,803

 

According to Barron’s: “Transaction volumes tanked as many brokers couldn’t close deals for months. HomeServices is not immune. According to Berkshire, the revenue from its real-estate business fell 30% from $6.2 billion in 2021 to $4.3 billion in 2023.”

Per the HomeServices website on 8.1.2024.

Headquartered in Minneapolis MN, HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, is, through its operating companies, one of the country’s premier providers of homeownership services, including brokerage, mortgage, franchising, title, escrow, insurance, and relocation services.

 

ABOUT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES

…With approximately 50,000 real estate professionals and more than 1,500 offices across 4 continents and 13 countries and territories including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, The Caribbean and India, the network completed more than USD$126.9 billion in real estate sales in 2023. Among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, the network brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability and longevity.”

Prosperity Home Mortgage Recognized for Overall Customer Satisfaction by J.D. Power

 

Beyond the above, Berkshire has interests in Acme Brick, Shaw, John Manville, and numerous other firms.

 

 

Part IV – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary 

In journalism, a tease can have multiple meanings. Among them is a promise of something that is upcoming. To keep this already information packed article manageable, there will be a planned follow up report with analysis on the development at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) about their sale of a large percentage of Apple stocks. But for now, it is useful to keep in mind this flashback report.

 

 

Why? Because like him or not, Buffett in his later years has a reputation for normally not doing something without deliberation. Buffett got involved with Apple as an investment for specific reasons, and it apparently paid.

1) More recently, his sale of shares in 2024 may prove to be a signal, perhaps on multiple levels. Per the Guardian on August 3, 2024 is the following snippet to support the tease.

Berkshire sold about 390m Apple shares in the second quarter, on top of 115m shares from January to March, as Apple’s stock price rose 23%. It still owned about 400m shares worth $84.2bn as of 30 June.

That’s a big move. According to Live Mint on 8.16.2024 is the following.

As a result of the Apple sale, Berkshire Hathaway’s cash and cash equivalents surged by $88 billion, reaching a record high of $277 billion in Q2 2024.

Again, more is planned on this Apple move and its possible implications in a follow up report that may include antitrust aspects to the situation.

But for now, to illustrate how much cash and cash equivalents Berkshire now has, consider the following valuations of well-known companies in manufactured housing and what their valuations were as of the close of the markets on Friday 8.23.2024, per Yahoo Finance. 

 

Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS)	13.764B
Sun Communities (SUI)	17.244B
Cavco Industries (CVCO)	3.377B
Skyline Champion (SKY)	5.327B

 

That’s a total of about $39.712 billion dollars combined valuations at that time for those four firms. So, the value of what Buffett led Berkshire sold in Apple stock (about $88 billion) is more than double the value of 4 of the largest firms in the manufactured housing industry.

 

2) For objective analysts that want to better understand the dynamics at play in manufactured housing, among the takeaways from Part III should be this. When comparing Clayton Homes and their related lending, 21st Mortgage Corporation and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF), they are relatively modest compared to BRK’s conventional housing interests. Additionally, the RV business is important to Berkshire.

 

 

That noted, let’s briefly focus a bit more on HomeServices, which reportedly “the network completed more than USD$126.9 billion in real estate sales in 2023.”  According to BRK-B.com:

Clayton Homes has demonstrated remarkable financial performance in the first quarter of 2024, showcasing its robust financial health and strategic prowess. The company’s revenues increased by 9.1% to $2.7 billion in Q1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 ¹.

Meaning, the conventional housing business interests of Berkshire Hathaway dwarfs what Clayton Homes produces. Furthermore, the site-built housing interests of Clayton Homes has also grown. Toss in Mitek, and it becomes clear that while Berkshire owns Clayton, and Clayton has long held a powerful influence over the Manufactured Housing Institute and the diminished MHVille market more broadly, and it becomes clear that Clayton’s manufactured housing interests take a proverbial back seat to conventional housing.

If Buffett thought manufactured homes would hurt his conventional housing interests, which is he going to pick?

It was noted in Part I that institutional investors have a serious stake in Berkshire. As MHProNews previously reported, some of those same institutional investors have a notable stakes in other manufactured home industry companies.

 

While it won’t be the focus of this report, it should be noted that those same institutional investors also have interests in conventional housing.

Among the possible implications? Manufactured homes may well produce some profits for Berkshire and others. But it can also be seen as a kind of defensive move. Throttling manufactured housing growth, for example, could be seen as shrewd by Buffett and others like him in those rarified air orbit of giants that have combined assets under management that rival the gross domestic product of the United States of America (USA).

 

3) To further illustrate that point #2 above, consider this. Buffett and Berkshire have said that they want to make money from each of their business interests. But Buffett has admitted that in certain situations, they are willing to sacrifice profits for the sake of a bigger picture.

“Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless.”

 

 

 

4) Buffett is not beyond evidence-based criticism. Investopedia has a post Updated September 21, 2023. By posting this, or other items, should not be construed as endorsing every aspect of what follows. The observations are those of the publication and its writer/editor(s).

 

Warren Buffett Controversies That Have Threatened His Reputation

Even the beloved Oracle of Omaha isn’t beyond criticism

Bernie Madoff was once thought of as untouchable. Who would have thought a year ago that Google could face a breakup due to antitrust efforts launched during the Trump Administration? What caused Google to be deemed a monopolist? Evidence said the judge.

MHProNews/MHLivingNews is hardly alone in pointing out the problems that emerged in manufactured housing as a result of what Doug Ryan called Berkshire-Clayton’s monopolistic grasp of the industry. MHProNews has not created an exhaustive look at the subject, but it has arguably been the deepest, most thoroughly researched and reported by any known source in MHVille. Others appear willing to look the other way, while MHProNews/MHLivingNews have lined up the evidence and authorities’ voices and their arguments. So, these are not the mere opinions of this publication’s leadership, these are well evidenced from people that in some cases were Buffett-believers before they turned away to say that Buffett and Berkshire has undermined American capitalism, and perhaps more specifically, manufactured housing.

 

 

 

 

Note that some of these sources, such as Bud Labitan, is apparently in the Buffett-Berkshire orbit. Along with Buffett’s own words, actions, and those of his lieutenants in MHVille, Kevin Clayton, Tim Williams, or Tom Hodges, they may be particularly damning evidence should antitrust action be launched against Berkshire and Clayton.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among the four lawmakers who signed the letter to the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), two of them are attorneys. Per Copilot:

1. Keith Ellison: He is a U.S. Representative from Minnesota. Ellison has a legal background and previously worked as a civil rights attorney. He also became the first Muslim member of Congress¹.
2. Mike Capuano: He was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Capuano is an attorney and served as the mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts, before entering Congress¹.

Copilot points out that those lawmakers who aren’t attorneys often have people with legal experience on their staff. Committees routinely have staff attorneys.  Meaning, getting a legal opinion is not difficult for most Congressional lawmakers.

 

 

14) It has been MHProNews’ fact-based editorial view that direct evidence exists for Clayton and 21st violating antitrust laws. Note that in the image below, many browsers and devices allow a reader to click on the image, open a dialogue box, and select a larger size for the image, or click here and open the below in a new window.  Close that window to return to this page.

 

 

15) What does that array of sources and allegations mean? That there is ample evidence for antitrust action. And there is an evidence-based argument to be made that so long as someone isn’t intimidated into thinking that Clayton-21st et al, or the Berkshire parent company, are somehow invulnerable. What is necessary is people with the cojones willing to take them on.

The fact that so much has been said about the moat and apparent antitrust violations in MHVille are reasons why the moat can be breached. The very things that may seem to make them untouchable are precisely why they are vulnerable. The current assistant AG over antitrust, Jonathan Kanter, has specifically mentioned the moat as an area of interest.

 

16) There has apparently been an increasing level of interest and acceptance of monopolistic/antitrust violations as being an issue of importance for Americans. That too is good news. It isn’t just MHProNews/MHLivingNews that has hammered away at this issue, others in media beyond MHVille have too. As public awareness grows, the opportunity for serious antitrust efforts grows too.

 

 

17) While Democrats may seem to be somewhat more antitrust focused, their record in most of the past 12 of the last 16 years indicates that Democratic leaders are closely aligned with the monopolists that they may publicly decry. That notion is supported by several mainstream media reports, and remarks. See examples linked below.

 

 

18) The political developments in the last few days may have shifted the electoral winds in favor of a lifelong-Democrat Bobby Kennedy Jr. backing deposed President Donald J. Trump, who has already proven willing to take on the giants of American business. Those who want to see the power of financial giants in and beyond MHVille trimmed should consider supporting Kennedy- and Elon Musk-backed Trump.

 

 

 

 

As was noted above, a planned follow up on the Berkshire move with respect to Apple is planned. It matters. Stay tuned for your most complete source for manufactured housing “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use” ^© where “We Provide, You Decide.” ^©

 

 

Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)

By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.

Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.

For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.

This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.

http://latonykovach.com

Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach

 

 

Related References:

The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.’