Latest news with #Geico
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After Hitting All-Time Highs This Year, Is Berkshire Hathaway a Buy Today?
Berkshire Hathaway is run by none other than Warren Buffett, arguably the greatest investor of our time. Berkshire's stock has outperformed the S&P 500 this year and hit all-time highs. Investors seem to like the company's diversity of businesses and its management, and view the stock as a flight to safety. 10 stocks we like better than Berkshire Hathaway › Once the Trump administration began to implement sweeping tariffs against major trading partners of the U.S. in April, investors, sensing a significant disruption in the market, ditched U.S. risk assets and ran for cover. They piled into cash, gold, and assets they believed could provide a port in the storm. One of those happened to be Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B), one of the largest conglomerates in the world, run by arguably the world's best investor, Warren Buffett. Berkshire's stock was up nearly 10% (as of June 4), compared to the broader benchmark S&P 500's roughly 2% gain. Berkshire's stock also hit all-time highs earlier this year. Is the stock still a buy today? Aside from Buffett and his strong team of investing lieutenants and managers, one thing investors seem to like about Berkshire is the diversity of businesses under the large conglomerate's umbrella. Berkshire not only operates a massive stock portfolio, but also a large insurance business as the owner of Geico. The company also owns a slate of energy assets, the Burlington North Santa Fe Railroad, and a mortgage business, among others. It might be difficult for some of these sectors to operate alone, but together they provide diversity and have turned Berkshire into a juggernaut that generated over $89.5 billion of earnings in 2024. It also had $47.4 billion of operating earnings, which Buffett believes is a better metric for the company because it strips out volatile unrealized capital gains and losses. Another reason investors view Berkshire as a flight to safety is because of the company's massive cash hoard. Combined, Berkshire's cash, cash equivalents, short-term U.S. Treasury investments, and investments in fixed-maturity securities totaled an incredible $357 billion. Berkshire now reportedly owns about 5% of the short-term Treasury bill market. The massive pile of cash gives Berkshire a huge margin of safety -- and also a war chest, should opportunities arise in the market that Berkshire finds compelling. Now, after a strong run, it's always important to look at a stock's valuation. One way investors like to value Berkshire is on a price-to-tangible book value (TBV) basis, which is a frequent way investors value bank and insurance stocks. As you can see above, Berkshire's stock recently traded slightly under two times TBV. That's down from highs the stock reached earlier this year, but also above the company's five-year average. While Berkshire's stock does look a bit expensive right now, I still think long-term-oriented investors will be served well by owning it. For one, Buffett and his team have built Berkshire to last, meaning it can perform well through the entirety of the economic cycle, including the tougher parts. Berkshire's equities portfolio has exposure to growth stocks like tech and artificial intelligence, but management are also clearly big believers in oil and gas, which they may view as a finite resource. Not only does the company own and operate energy businesses, but Berkshire has major stakes in large domestic oil and gas producers like Occidental Petroleum and Chevron. These stocks should perform well if the price of oil, which trades in the low $60s per barrel, eventually rises. Investors may be concerned over the fact that Buffett, who is 94 years old, is preparing to retire at the end of 2025 after over six decades on the job. No one will ever be able to replace the Oracle of Omaha, but incoming CEO Greg Abel is more than capable. Without the Buffett brand, I think Berkshire may also try to entice investors by returning more capital to shareholders through stock repurchases and perhaps even a dividend, which Berkshire has never paid before. So even with the departure of Buffett, who will stay on as chair of the company's board of directors, it's not all doom and gloom. There is still much more for investors to look forward to. Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Chevron. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. After Hitting All-Time Highs This Year, Is Berkshire Hathaway a Buy Today? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
12 things you shouldn't leave in your car in hot weather in Arizona
We all get lazy sometimes, perhaps you're in a rush or maybe just running inside for a couple of minutes. Whatever your reason may be, I'm sure you've left something in your car before. Now, normally, this might not be a problem, but in the Valley, temperatures can reach highs of 110 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the temperature inside your car can rise by as much as 20 degrees in 10 minutes, even in cooler weather. After an hour, it can reach around 140 degrees on a 95-degree day, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Aside from being dangerous for children and pets, this can also be an issue with food and flammable items. Here's what not to leave in a hot car. There are quite a few things you shouldn't leave in a hot car, according to Geico and Capital Insurance Group: Food and beverages: Certain beverages can cause a mess in your car for example, a wine cork can easily slip out or a soda can may explode in hot temperatures. Bacteria that can cause foodborne illnesses double every 20 minutes even at room temperature, according to the FDA. Don't leave groceries or leftovers in a warm car for more than two hours – or only one hour when it's over 90 degrees. Aerosol cans: Pressurized cans are highly sensitive outside of the recommended storage temperature. The contents can expand which can cause the can to crack or explode. Sunscreen: When sunscreen is left in high temperatures for too long, this can shorten its shelf life according to the Centers for Disease Control. Lighters: The flammable fuel inside of a lighter can expand, breach the lighter casing when exposed to high heat and create a fire hazard. Plastic bottles: Besides a clear plastic bottle, potentially magnifying the sun's rays, there is also a risk from bisphenol A or BPA. According to the National Library of Medicine, there's an increased release of BPA from plastics at higher temperatures. Batteries: Leaving batteries in high temperatures can lead to a loss of capacity but also cause a leakage or rupture. Battery acid is dangerous when inhaled and highly corrosive, according to the CDC. Electronics: Leaving your phone or another electronic device in a hot car could cause it to shut down or suffer damage. Medicine: If medications are left in high heat for an extended amount of time, the compounds in prescriptions and over-the-counter medications can be altered and lose potency. Sunglasses/glasses: Leaving sunglasses or prescription glasses in a hot car can cause the plastic to soften and warp, changing the frame's shape and fit. If metal-framed glasses are left, the heat can make them too hot to put on your face or handle. DVDs and CDs: If left in a hot car, CDs can warp and cases can melt together. Unless you really need to take your animal with you, opt to leave your pet safely at home. The American Veterinary Medical Association says to 'never leave your pet alone in a parked vehicle, no matter what the outdoor temperature or how long you think you'll be gone.' Temperatures inside of your vehicle can rise about 20 degrees in just 10 minutes. Cracking the windows makes no difference. As stated above, cars can heat up rather quickly. Heatstroke is one of the leading non-crash vehicle-related fatalities among children, according to the NHTSA. It can occur when a child is left in a hot vehicle, which causes their body temperature to rise quickly and dangerously. A core body temperature of 107 degrees is lethal. 'It is never okay to leave a child alone in or around a car for any reason,' the NHTSA website states. Reach the reporter at Follow @dina_kaur on X, formerly known as Twitter, and on Bluesky @ Subscribe to today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Don't leave these 12 things in your car during hot summer weather
Mint
02-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Replacing Warren Buffett's insurance mastermind is Berkshire's next succession mystery
Now that Warren Buffett has said Greg Abel will succeed him as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO at year-end, Berkshire watchers are turning their attention to a different succession mystery: Who will fill Ajit Jain's shoes? For nearly four decades, Jain has been the brains behind Berkshire's insurance powerhouse. Its profits have helped Buffett expand his conglomerate and seed his stock portfolio. A risk-pricing mastermind, Jain has crafted policies insuring Chicago's tallest building against terrorist attacks, Pepsi against having to award a $1 billion raffle prize, and baseball teams in the event that star players such as Alex Rodriguez got hurt. Along the way, he has made Berkshire billions of dollars. 'Even kryptonite bounces off Ajit," Buffett once wrote. But Berkshire's man of steel (and statutory accounting) is now 73, and last year Jain said he gave Berkshire's board a shortlist of possible successors. Whoever follows Jain will inherit a business in transition. New competitors are moving in. Berkshire's biggest insurance moneymaker in recent years has been auto coverage. Buffett and Jain declined to comment for this article, and Berkshire hasn't disclosed the names on Jain's list. But insurance-industry insiders have some ideas. Joe Brandon, CEO of Alleghany Brandon, 66, is on his second stint at Berkshire after the company's 2022 purchase of Alleghany, a Berkshire-like conglomerate whose business spans insurance, steel fabrication and Squishmallow plush toys. He 'understands both Berkshire and insurance," Buffett said at the time of the purchase. Brandon also spent seven years running General Re, one of Berkshire's major providers of reinsurance, or insurance for insurance companies. He resigned in 2008 after federal prosecutors pressured Buffett to let him go following fraud convictions of four other former Gen Re executives. Brandon was never charged. Todd Combs, CEO of Geico Combs, 54, already has two jobs: heading Geico and helping manage a portion of Berkshire's investment capital. In five years leading the nation's third-largest auto insurer by premiums, Combs has modernized Geico's use of technology and shored up earnings and reserves. Buffett recently called the improvement 'spectacular." Combs also has a record of Berkshire-like returns and Berkshire-style humility. He earned a net cumulative 34% while running a hedge fund from 2005 to 2010, a financial crisis-era period when the S&P 500 produced 1.15%. Still he maintained such a low profile that when he accepted an investment manager job at Berkshire, the media couldn't find a photo of him. Combs's experience insuring more unusual and expensive risks is limited, however, and some analysts believe his money management responsibilities could expand when Buffett retires. Peter Eastwood, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Since Buffett coaxed him away from AIG more than a decade ago, Eastwood, 58, has added a new arm to Berkshire's commercial insurance operations, building property-casualty insurer BHSI from scratch. The company started in 2013, turned a profit within 15 months and has since built up more than $15 billion in reserves, according to a person familiar with the company. Buffett has called Eastwood's hiring 'a home run," and BHSI now has offices across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia. Still, it is a smaller proving ground than some of the other companies in Berkshire's insurance empire, such as National Indemnity Company and Gen Re. Kara Raiguel, CEO of General Re Jain once called Raiguel, 52, his 'secret weapon." Practically a Berkshire lifer, she spent more than a decade working closely with him at Berkshire Hathaway's reinsurance division in Stamford, Conn., helping evaluate some of the company's biggest bets. Raiguel took over Gen Re in 2016 and reserves have swelled. Ratings firm A.M. Best said in November Gen Re has taken 'significant" actions toward bringing the prices policyholders pay better into line with the risk the firm takes on. Jain, who works from Berkshire's reinsurance offices in Stamford, hasn't said how long he plans to remain in his role. He grew up in India, earned an engineering degree and then sold early IBM computers before moving to the U.S. to attend Harvard Business School. Jain was still in his 30s, with no experience in the insurance industry, when Buffett hired him in 1986. Within six months, he was running Berkshire's entire reinsurance business. He soon became known in the industry for his warm manner, his close listening ear and his willingness to say no if he can't make money. Jain's meticulously priced deals brought in big lump sums, well beyond what Berkshire was getting from Geico's plain-vanilla auto insurance business. There was enough cash to pay claims and plenty left over for Buffett to deploy. Most hotshot investors have to ask people for money; Berkshire just collects insurance premiums. That is why Buffett once advised shareholders—in the event of a shipwreck where they could rescue only one drowning Berkshire executive—to 'swim to Ajit." Over the past decade, pension funds and other catastrophe bond investors have been displacing traditional property and casualty reinsurance capital, while private-equity firms have pushed into life insurance and annuities. Jain and Berkshire adapted by building out commercial insurers like Eastwood's group and by whipping Geico into shape. The auto insurer's underwriting earnings have outpaced all of Berkshire's other insurance businesses combined for the past two years running. For Jain's successor, the most important quality to replicate may be not his knack for making money but his talent for not losing it, said Christopher Bloomstran, chief investment officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group, a Berkshire investor. No other firm has the same capacity to pay for disaster recovery or bail out an underwater insurer. As long as Berkshire's next insurance chief is also comfortable saying no, the cash pile Jain helped build—arguably his most important contribution to Berkshire—will long outlast him. Jain 'is unique," said Stephen Catlin, executive chairman of the specialty insurer and reinsurer Convex. 'He will be a very hard act to follow." Write to Heather Gillers at
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Cheapest Car Insurance in Georgia (Only $24 a Month!)
TAMPA, Fla., May 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Geico and State Farm tie for the cheapest car insurance rates in Georgia, according to a recent report published by The list of the top 10 cheapest car insurance providers and monthly rates is as follows: Geico – $24 AAA – $29 Erie – $37 State Farm – $43 Travelers – $44 Progressive – $46 American Family – $50 Farmers – $60 Allstate – $66 Liberty Mutual $106 In addition to offering lower prices, Geico is a top contender in Georgia due to its excellent financial rating and user-friendly mobile app. Car Insurance Requirements in Georgia Georgia residents are required to have a car insurance policy when driving on public roadways. The state has determined minimum requirements that all drivers must have. Bodily Injury Liability – $25,000 per person and $50,000 for multiple people per accident Property Damage Liability – $25,000 Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage – $25,000 per person and $50,000 for multiple people per accident Melanie Musson, a nationally recognized car insurance expert with urges readers to remember, "Georgia's minimum auto insurance requirements are insufficient for real-life risks. Additional liability coverage is often surprisingly affordable, so drivers should consider carrying higher limits." Finding Cheap Car Insurance in Georgia list of cheapest insurers provides a glimpse of average rates. Individual drivers face specific risks that affect their premium payments. Discounts provide another avenue of savings. Usage-based policies can result in a discount of up to 30%, depending on the company and the driver's habits. Other discounts include military, good student, bundling, and safe driver. Increasing deductibles is another way to save on premiums. Drivers can pay lower monthly premiums by raising their deductibles. Factors Impacting Premiums in Georgia Many factors that affect car insurance rates in Georgia are the same as in any other state, including: driver age, vehicle make and model, and driving history. The driver's address also impacts premiums. Drivers in urban areas tend to pay higher rates than drivers in rural parts of Georgia because the risk of being in an accident and filing a claim is higher in bigger cities. Find out more by reading entire report here: Cheap Car Insurance in Georgia for 2025 (Save With These 10 Companies). View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Warren Buffett Was Asked If Self-Driving Cars Will Shift Insurance To 'Product Liability' — 'There's No Question... It's Going to Change Dramatically'
As self-driving cars inch closer to the mainstream, one of the biggest unanswered questions isn't just how they'll navigate traffic—but how they'll reshape risk. If there's no driver behind the wheel, is it still "driver error"? And if the software crashes, will the insurer or the carmaker pick up the tab? Earlier this month at the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK, BRK.B)) annual shareholders meeting, that question was posed to Warren Buffett and Ajit Jain, the company's vice chairman of insurance. "Wouldn't what we call auto insurance today just become product liability for autonomous vehicles and autonomous software companies?" the attendee asked. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – Ajit answered first, laying it out clearly: "There's no question that insurance for automobiles is going to change dramatically once self-driving cars become a reality," he said. "Most of the insurance that is sold and bought revolves around operator errors... To the extent these new self-driving cars are more safe and are involved in fewer accidents, that insurance will be less required. Instead, it'll be substituted by, as you mentioned, product liability." He confirmed that Geico and other insurers are already trying to prepare for the shift—from covering human mistakes to covering technology failures. "We move from providing insurance for operator errors and be more ready to provide protection for product errors and errors and omissions in the construction of these automobiles," he said. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Buffett followed up with a bigger-picture take on how Berkshire thinks about change—across all its businesses. "We expect change in all our businesses," Buffett said. "If the game didn't change at all, it really wouldn't be very interesting." He compared the need for change to sports: if every swing in baseball resulted in a home run, or every golf shot became a hole-in-one, the game wouldn't be worth playing. Challenges keep it engaging—and thinking through those challenges is part of what keeps companies and people sharp. "Your brain would turn to mush if you didn't have a few problems now and then," he added. Buffett acknowledged that while auto insurance will change, it's striking how little it has changed so far. He noted how transportation itself evolved drastically over the last two centuries, and no one really knows how it will look in the next hundred while driving deaths have dropped dramatically—from six per 100 million miles driven to just over one—insurance costs have skyrocketed. He recalled walking into Geico's office in 1950 when the average policy cost was "around 40 bucks a year." Now? It's not unusual to see policies climb into the $2,000+ range—and higher in urban areas. Jain chimed back in with one more important point: autonomous driving might reduce accidents overall, but it doesn't mean insurance will get cheaper. "The number of accidents will drop dramatically because of automatic driving," he said. "But on the other hand, the cost per repair every time there's an accident will go up very significantly because of the amount of technology that's going into the car." So while Geico and others may sell fewer policies for human error, the cost of insuring the tech itself could be just as complex—if not more. Buffett closed the conversation with a philosophical note about change and uncertainty: "You deal with the world as it develops. You never reach an answer in this business—you reach a point of action that you take." Read Next: Maximize saving for your retirement and cut down on taxes: . 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Image: Midjourney UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Warren Buffett Was Asked If Self-Driving Cars Will Shift Insurance To 'Product Liability' — 'There's No Question… It's Going to Change Dramatically' originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
