"For some time now you have heard us lament and pontificate about the extreme concentration in the stock market. Over the past 18 months or so, most of the market’s return has derived from a handful of technology companies. Over the past three months, this pattern has started to change, and the S&P 493 performed better than the Magnificent 7. It may not be the end of the market’s concentration, but perhaps this rotation is getting back to a more normal right-side up pyramid. Your companies fared well during the period..."

"Why are large American companies trading at near record valuations compared to their counterparts in the the rest of the world, and even compared to their own history? We think that their business models are substantially better than both those of their forebearers and of their foreign competitors. This is not your mother’s or your father’s stock market..."

"We don’t spend much time pondering the unknowable, for example, the future direction of the economy. When so much ink and air time are spent on such speculation, you may ask “Why not?” The quality companies you own are not primarily beholden to economic cycles that are out of their control, rather they have far more command of their own long-term destinies than the average company. Sure, in a severe recession or rocketing economy they might shrink a little or jump ahead, but your companies are more like all season tires: They won’t go as fast as slicks on a track, but neither will they slide off the road when they inevitably encounter ice or snow on the pavement. We’re New Englanders, and by nature we’re prepared for inclement weather..."

"Financial repression was what some called it. From 2008 until last year, frustrated savers and retirees lamented that artificially low interest rates deprived them of much needed income. A mere 24 months ago, $1 million invested in one-year Treasury bonds would generate a paltry $1,000 in income – enough for a careful traveller to spend a weekend in a New York City hotel. At the same time, gleeful borrowers – such as younger home buyers – were locking in historically low sub-3% 30-year mortgages, and companies like Berkshire Hathaway were borrowing for 30 years at a pittance..."