Accepted, split, fail.
In the last several weeks a few things happened that were noteworthy: I was accepted to medical school, Berkshire Hathaway split 50:1, and Steve Jobs let the whole world down with the iPad.
I guess I could write about each of these events as they are milestones for me in a few ways. To start, yes, I was accepted to a medical school and I am glad to have the burden lifted - I have a place to go this August. I am still being considered for a few schools and have upcoming interviews, which I am going to attend and hope that I be given some choices before the summer. My goal has been and will continue to be the same, get into medical school and do your best to become a physician. My path was a little convoluted but I wound up with the opportunity; I have no reason to second guess anything. I am going to be a doctor and a damn good one.
Berkshire Hathaway is interesting because Warren Buffett has always given the stock split a grin of disdain. Years ago he was making it clear that he did not like the proposition and had wanted to retain a class of shareholders that reflected his ideals. To split the stock meant to swap out a group for a lesser one. Some may call this elitism but what else is Berkshire Hathaway after its 140 thousand price tag? Now, the B share which cost 3300 is split 50 times so is a 70 dollar item, it seems to be attracting attention for two reasons. One is that Buffett is somewhat altering his publicized opinions on stock splits, the other is that it coincides with a large deal which has been both praised and derailed (no pun intended). I believe a new class of shareholder will come into being, the average investor may now afford to buy these shares even though the split is immaterial. In short, I do not really believe the company is any less for the move, but I do not endorse this except for the one truth: Warren Buffett will soon die. Yes, he knows it, I know it, we all know. I’m betting that Berkshire will remain a fine investment but they may have more opportunity to maneuver in the future using this newer share structure. I hope more interest is given to Berkshire, and it has, but I hope nobody is expecting the moon from this investment. Berkshire works on principals laid out 40 years ago and has no ability to compete with the more nimble investments of the modern era.
Apple came up with their iPad device and I was most upset by the release. For one thing I do not feel it kept pace with the rest of the company in terms of ‘invention,’ but rather rehashed the devices of yesteryear in a larger format. I did not care for the display or the nature of its operating system - it seems like it is literally a blown up iPod Touch. For all the hype and mythology surrounding Steve, I found his performance and his attitude disenchanted, I felt brainwashed. At least 8 times in the presentation I heard the phrase, ‘magical device,’ and almost felt like I was being told that I cannot understand this until I hold one. Are they right? No, I doubt I speak alone in my opinion - the iPad has been near universally panned among the technophiles. Perhaps the intent of the device is that it serves a less technical crowd which is fine. I just wanted more.
