Soaring with Berkshire Hathaway

Never mind Dow 12K - the better market story is Warren Buffett's long-running investment vehicle hitting the $100,000 mark in yesterday's trading. In case you haven't heard, that's per share. The stock picked up another $1,200 this morning before settling back to $100,800, at last check. Those lucky so-and-sos who got in early have done the best, of course. Since 1965, when Buffett took control of what had been a textile company, the stock is up 5,555 times. Over that same period, the Dow is up 13 times. But even late-arrivals can score. If you purchased a share of Berkshire Hathaway a year ago at $84,800, you've made a profit of $16,000, which I suspect is more than what most passbooks would offer. Not that it's easy to buy a single share - Buffett likes the stock high because it discourages short-term traders. That's why he doesn't believe in splits.

The local angle: That would be Pasadena-based Wesco Financial, which is run by billionaire Charles Munger, Buffett's long-standing business buddy (they also play bridge together), and which is 80 percent owned by Berkshire. This week's Business Journal (subscription required) looks at Wesco's recent runup. The stock was trading this morning at $483 per share, just under the 52-week high reached yesterday.

Despite this run-up and Wesco’s posting of $555 million in operating revenues last year from its furniture rental, insurance and steel operations, the company has kept a very low profile. And that’s just the way the straight-talking yet unassuming Munger likes it. Indeed, in his last “letter to shareholders” in March, Munger, who is chairman, chief executive and president of Wesco, downplayed expectations for the company’s future performance, saying that future growth in shareholders’ equity was unlikely to match or exceed past performance. In the past, Munger has referred to his tenure at Wesco as “a long slog.”

Like Berkshire, Wesco is basically a holding company for other investments. Its two main areas are insurance and furniture rentals. I know is sounds strange (and Munger isn't exactly warm and cuddly to shareholders), but consider this: In 1970, when Munger and Buffett got involved in Wesco, its market cap was a mere $40 million. Today, it's $2.7 billion.