A Game of Omaha
This weekend’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) shareholders meeting will be watched closely by investors in America as Warren Buffett, one of the largest concentrators of wealth, speaks and fields questions.
Omaha, Nebraska is the location of the meeting and the game plan will be the discussion of investment opportunities. As a card game, Omaha Hold Em’ gives players the chance to win with better hands than in other poker games — and this can lead to high stakes. It could be argued that as an investment entity, Berkshire has played the “hold em’ game” better than anyone, even though 2008 was not the firm’s best year.
- Fortune says more than 30,000 are expected
The questions and answers at this meeting will not change the economy overnight unless the group gets a little more creative. So much of the economy is tied to the housing market, and the jobs and investments it drives. At the same time, foreclosures by banks continue to spread fear and doubt in the American mind, so what can stop the fear?
Private Communities Newswire will not be sending a correspondent to the meeting, but it would be great to ask the entire group why investors are not more excited about making American consumers more stable by addressing jobs in industries that require a wide range of professional skills. How about the housing market itself? What about people who want to stay in their homes?
Notice how Buffett encourages his investors to buy from companies within its own portfolio, what if Buffett encouraged the same investors to buy second homes in their own communities (maybe even from people facing foreclosure who could rent it back from these well-heeled investors so properties are not vacated). Could one of the world’s richest people use his influence to creatively rehabilitate the second home industry and breath life into one of our nation’s traditional symbols of economic security? Maybe someone in line will ask the question before the game is over; investors buying up houses would be both noble and helpful for the larger economy. This shuffle and deal could be a hand where everybody wins.
