In his letter, according to abc17news, he defended Berkshire’s poor stock performance in 2015: the A share stock (selling for around $200k per share) and the B share (selling around $132 a share) both fell over 12 percent. Berkshire’s stock is up slightly this year. The A shares have marked an annual gain of 20.8 percent since 1965, compared to 9.7 percent for the S&P.
Buffett also defended subsidiary Clayton Homes, this year more extensively than last, devoting 16 paragraphs to the company this year as opposed to just three paragraphs last year. The Seattle Times and BuzzFeed accused Clayton of predatory and discriminatory lending in several articles beginning last year.
Further, PBS then did a broadcast about the MH industry that also was not complimentary and had a hidden agenda. (For MHLivingNews and MHProNews publisher L. A. “Tony” Kovach’ response, click here.)
Regarding Clayton, Buffett wrote, “The Great Recession caused mortgage originators, servicers and packagers to come under intense scrutiny and to be assessed many billions of dollars in fines and penalties,” noting that Clayton only had to pay fines amounting to $38,200 the past two years. He added that 95.4 percent of borrowers are current on their loans. ##
(Photo credit: businessinsider–Warren Buffett)