Closer,

I assume from my own looking into it that Buffett made the move on BNI based on valuation and lower expect capital expenditures. Most of the lines at this point are very mature and your looking more at maintaining vs. building. Those tracks are worth a lot of money to anyone in the industry. Looking on the balance sheet i don't think that value shows up and if you adjust for this you find book value for the business acts as a very reasonable cushion against loss. Some are probably right that is also is a play against other shipping modes that have a higher dependancy on gas/oil. I can not speak to any of the other rails as I have not put that much time into the research.

As for China, you got me. I look around china and hear the song "we're going to party like it's 1999". While I am sure a diamond or two in the rough exists, WB likes wide moat businesses. Seeing how they are mainly the ones in vogue I think you likely won't hear much about him in China.

You did not mention what he did for your family, are you willing to share? I usually get See's candy boxes for all the support staff in our local and corporate offices around Feb. and during the summer I am a big fan of treating all to some DQ soft serve. Now if I could only convince them all to switch to GEICO I would be set. I have no problem doing it as most years I tend to get back more than I spend.

BGF 

BGF,

I almost forgot there was a Buffett board on the M* forums!
 
I was a long term lurker (since 2001) on the M* forums before becoming a poster earlier this year.  I used to find some occasional value in posts on the Mutual Funds forum or the Vanguard Diehards forum, but have felt there has been a protracted deterioration in the quality of posts on those forums over the last few years.  When M* changed the format of the boards a couple months ago, I pretty much stopped perusing these boards altogether.

I remember having a few good exchanges on this forum in the past.  But, historically, I think this board has always been pretty "dead".  I'll check in every once in a while to see what's going on, but I think there are now much more vibrant (and informed) communities elsewhere.

I'd recommend checking out both the MSN Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders group and the forums of GuruFocus for Buffett/value stuff.  (The latter is sometimes a little "low-brow", but not nearly as much so as some of the forums on M*.)  I've even found that I enjoy skimming the Bogleheads forum over at www.diehards.org  (This is where the majority of the quality Vanguard Diehards posters have moved.)

 'tato

Yes, this particular forum tends to be a bit quiet, perhaps because Buffett doesn't often trade as much as he has recently, and he has previously not been in the media spotlight as much as he seems to be now. 

BRK is a big holding for me as I believe the price is undervalued despite the large sticker price for both a and b shares.  Although the transition plans in case anything should happen to Mr. Buffett are somewhat up in the air, and there are supposed to be a few people that might be tapped to take the reigns in such an event, the next in line certainly doesn't command the respect and admiration that Mr. B does. 

One appeal of the railroad stock BRK has taken a large position in, is supposed to be the link between coal mining and the end users or other transportation lines that take coal further along the chain.  I do not recall where I read this idea, but that is supposed to be a primary reason for the purchase.  Unfortunately, coal has a bad reputation for disturbing air quality and the ozone layer, so while the US is very coal rich, its use is clouded by these legitimate concerns.

My guess is that Mr. B will continue to look for future purchases abroad, where faster future growth is likely to be,  plus, I believe he may still have an eye on currency valuations which would make foreign investments more attractive as well.  Overall, his bets on currency have been more positive than negative although the gaff he made in currency not too long ago caught all the publicity.