Almost no professional stock picker or forecaster was expecting that 2023 would be a boom year for the stock market, and I don’t imagine that many folks were predicting that February of 2024 would be the best February for the markets in a decade, but still, we crave predictions. People are endearingly ridiculous, and markets that change every minute, creating huge amounts of kinetic energy and making us feel like we’re missing out if we don’t participate in each tick up or down, make us even more ridiculous.

So what to talk about after a great February. Shall we Start with Uncle Warren?

We got the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) Annual Report last weekend, and the highlight, as always, was Warren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders — he touched on many of his “greatest hits” this time, but also highlighted the significant challenges facing two of Berkshire’s most important core operating companies, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and the BNSF Railroad. It will be interesting to see how things transition in Berkshire management, because Greg Abel is, by all accounts, a more active and intrusive CEO than Warren Buffett, who takes Berkshire’s culture of decentralized leadership to the extreme — Abel is coming from BHE, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to be a more hands-on manager of those operating companies whenever he ascents to the CEO’s office.

Warren’s introduction this year acknowledges the late Charlie Munger as the “architect” of Berkshire Hathaway, and it’s a lovely read — we should all work with people who admire us as much as Warren admired Charlie.  Here’s how he summed that up:

“In reality, Charlie was the ‘architect’ of the present Berkshire, and I acted as the ‘general contractor’ to carry out the day-by-day construction of his vision.

“Charlie never sought to take credit for his role as creator but instead let me take the bows and receive the accolades. In a way his relationship with me was part older brother, part loving father. Even when he knew he was right, he gave me the reins, and when I blundered he never – never –reminded me of my mistake.

“In the physical world, great buildings are linked to their architect while those who had poured the concrete or installed the windows are soon forgotten. Berkshire has become a great company. Though I have long been in charge of the construction crew; ...