Potential Buffett successor quits after disclosing stock trades

Warren Buffett?s potential heir-apparent at Berkshire Hathaway Corp. has resigned, after disclosing that he bought shares in a company that he subsequently recommended Berkshire acquire.

David Sokol, who headed Buffett?s energy businesses and was considered a front-runner to succeed the 80-year-old billionaire at Berkshire, had suggested lubricants maker Lubrizol Corp. to Buffett as a takeover target in mid-January.

That was a few days after Sokol had purchased 96,060 Lubrizol shares for his own account, Buffett said in a letter to Berkshire shareholders on Wednesday.

Sokol?s purchases were made when the stock was around $104 a share. On March 14, Buffett offered $135 a share, or about $9 billion, for Lubrizol.

In the letter explaining Sokol?s resignation, Buffett said that ?neither Dave nor I feel his Lubrizol purchases were in any way unlawful. He has told me that they were not a factor in his decision to resign.?

Rather, Sokol, 54, told Buffett that he wanted to ?utilize the time remaining in my career to invest my family?s resources in such a way as to create enduring equity value. . .?

Buffett?s letter also disclosed that Sokol had sought to quit Berkshire on two previous occasions, most recently two years ago, but that Buffett had persuaded him to stay on.

?This time I did not attempt to talk him out of his decision,? Buffett said.

Defending Sokol, Buffett said the executive?s Lubrizol stock purchases were made ?before he had discussed Lubrizol with me and with no knowledge of how I might react to his idea.... Furthermore, he knew he would have no voice in Berkshire?s decision once he suggested the idea; it would be up to me and Charlie Munger, subject to ratification by the Berkshire board, of which Dave is not a member.?

Buffett said Sokol had "mentioned that he owned stock" in Lubrizol when he first discussed the company with Buffett. "It was a passing remark and I did not ask him about the date of his purchase or the extent of his holdings," Buffett wrote.

The letter was released after markets had closed. Berkshire?s Class B shares, which rose 75 cents to $85.46 in regular trading, slid to $82.83 in after-hours activity.

-- Tom Petruno

Photo: David Sokol. Credit: Nati Harnik / Associated Press

Full story at http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/MoneyCompany/~3/Hfn_DZNrFKU/buffett-sokol-resign-berkshire-hathaway-lubrizol-takeover-stock.html

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Anadarko's Acquisition of BP's Wattenberg Adds to Gas Assets

Filed under: Chevron Corp (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Duke Energy (DUK), Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Oil

Recently Anadarko (APC) has agreed to buy BP's 93% interest in the Wattenberg Plant, located in the northeastern part of Colorado, for about $575 million. Anadarko already owns the remaining interest in the plant.



Anadarko is the largest producer of natural gas in the Wattenberg field and the deal will provide Anadarko with 100% ownership of the plant. The company relies heavily on natural gas, which we estimate accounts for nearly 40% of its stock value. It vies for business with established oil and gas producers like Exxon Mobil, (XOM) ConocoPhillips (COP), Chevron (CVX), BP (BP) and Duke (DUK).

Continue reading Anadarko's Acquisition of BP's Wattenberg Adds to Gas Assets

Anadarko's Acquisition of BP's Wattenberg Adds to Gas Assets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Baxter: Incremental Progress

Filed under: Baxter Intl (BAX), Stocks to Buy

Shares of Baxter International (BAX), first discussed here on March 13, 2009 at a price of $51.16, pushed this winter above major, psychological resistance at $50. But they appear to be struggling at/near $54 -- and the calculation at this juncture is to maintain the trade.



That said, this trade may not pan out. Baxter's chart is in danger of forming a short-term double top at that aforementioned $54 level. What's more, there's also clutter at/near $58, hence BAX has its work cut out for it, from a technical standpoint.



I'd also raise the sell/stop loss to $44 from $37 at this stage: another swoon will not be tolerated -- BAX has had two years to perform.

Continue reading Baxter: Incremental Progress

Baxter: Incremental Progress originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With BP's Problems, Who Enters the Void?

Filed under: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Russia, BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Oil

BP's (BP) headache continues over its planned share swap with Russian-owned Rosneft. According to a report from Sky News, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) announced its concerns over the impact of the swap. ABI reportedly controls 10% to 15% of the U.K. stock market.



ABI's reservations also include a Swedish court's decision to block BP's planned venture with Rosneft in the Arctic. Perhaps most concerning of all -- and not just to ABI -- is Wednesday's report announcing that U.S. prosecutors are considering manslaughter charges against BP for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Eleven oil workers were killed as a result of the spill.

Continue reading With BP's Problems, Who Enters the Void?

With BP's Problems, Who Enters the Void? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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European Inflation Blows Past Estimates For March, As Trichet Waits In The Wings

Eurozone inflation for the month of March solidly beat expectations, rising 2.6% year-over-year, according to the latest release from Eurostat.

Expectations were for a slight fall to 2.3%. Last month, inflation was at 2.4% annualized.

This is likely to give the ECB and its President, Jean-Claude Trichet, the impetus to raise the bank's key rate at its next meeting, on April 7. That's a week from today.

Trichet suggested he would do so last month, and this new data would not discourage him.

Don't miss: The 8 shocks Citi fear will slam the global economy >

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See Also:

• J�rgen Stark Explains Why Massive Unemployment In Spain Is Not The ECB's Problem
• Get Ready, Ireland's Banks Are Going To Need Another $39 Billion
• The Frightening Inflation Number Hidden In The Consumer Sentiment Report

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/5HyB334T9ZM/eurozone-inflation-march-2011-3

The Portuguese Debt Rout Gets Even Worse, As Deficit Forecast Is Way Worse Than Estimates

Original Post: Another big move higher in 2-year Portuguese bonds today.

In fact, at a yield of 8.172%, they're now yielding more than 10-year Portuguese bonds, which offer 8.102%.

Paging the IMF...

As for other markets, things are fairly quiet. Japan ended higher. Shanghai ended down just less than 1%.

US futures aren't doing a whole lot, but there's a lot of news coming out today, so it could all change fairly easily.

Update: The rout gets even worse, as 2-year yields hit 8.233%.

Update 2: And things get even worse following news that the 2010 budget deficit came in at 8.6% of GDP vs. 7.3% goals.

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See Also:

• Early Estimates On A Portuguese Bailout Say It May Need As Much As $113 Billion
• Remember How The Portugal Austerity Vote Was Going To Destroy The Euro?
• Portugal Situation Deteriorating As Debt Downgrade Sends Yields Through The Roof

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/hKcBKkowwsU/portuguese-debt-crisis-hits-new-level-as-yield-curve-goes-inverted-2011-3