Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.a)(BRK.b) — No More Weekend Reading

Berkshire issued a press release friday that the SEC wants the company to file earlier.

Also, Berkshire will now be recording the difference between operating earnings and investment gains.

Here’s the quote take directly from www.berkshirehathaway.com

“In the past we have always attempted to publish our periodic reports after a Friday close of the market. Our purpose has been to allow the public maximum time, while markets were closed, to scrutinize and evaluate our financial data. We continue to believe this to be the best schedule for disseminating important financial information. However, because the SEC has mandated that reporting times for both 10-Ks and 10-Qs be shortened, we may not be able to consistently hew to a weekend schedule in the future. That, nonetheless, will remain our goal.

In our summary press releases, we will distinguish between what we call “operating earnings” and investment gains. Berkshire possesses a huge reservoir (about $31 billion on September 30) of pre-tax unrealized investment gains and the cashing of these (or realization of losses for that matter) in any given quarter can materially distort net income figures as well as comparisons between periods. We do not wish investors to mistakenly focus on a bottom-line number possibly affected by large gains that do not stem from economic accomplishments during the reporting period and that have no concurrent impact on the intrinsic value of the company. Both trends in our operating businesses and their health are best judged by income before investment gains or losses.”