Warren Buffett's ability to consistently outperform the market has led many to think the billionaire investor has some sort of secretive edge. But the investing strategies Buffett and his top lieutenants over at Berkshire Hathaway employ are rooted in many simple concepts. In other words, making money in the market does not require outsized risks, speculative opportunities, or chasing the next big megatrend. Case in point: According to Berkshire's most recent 13F filing , Buffett's latest major investment is Domino's Pizza ( DPZ 1.68% ) . That's right, billionaires love pizza too! Let's look at how an investment in Domino's fits with Berkshire's investing philosophy, and assess whether now is a good opportunity to follow Buffett's lead. Why Domino's Pizza makes a great addition to the Berkshire portfolio Some institutional investors choose to own hundreds of different securities -- covering every major sector and myriad sub-markets within these industries. Berkshire is a bit different. Buffett and his team tend to invest in maybe 40 or 50 stocks at a time while holding onto their largest positions for years or even decades. Two of Berkshire's most successful investments have been major consumer brands, including beverage maker Coca-Cola and electronics specialist Apple . But why these companies? Consider Coca-Cola's iconic red soda cans and Apple's coveted iPhone. These two products have helped both companies build unparalleled moats . The perception of Domino's isn't much different in my opinion, as it's pretty hard to think about pizza and not have the Domino's brand come to mind. Another staple part of Buffett's philosophy is investing in businesses that generate steady cash flow. While free cash flow trends may be tougher to forecast for restaurant businesses, the big idea from the chart below is that Domino's has managed to grow its cash flow consistently over the course of the past decade. Data by YCharts . The company's rising cash flow has gone toward dividend increases too, which make up another pillar of Buffett's investing criteria. A resilient business in a tough market The restaurant industry is unbelievably intense. For national chains, customers expect quick, convenient service and affordable prices. One key metric for tracking a company's growth is same-store sales , which measures growth trends at existing locations. By excluding new restaurant openings, usually from the past year, same-store sales shed light on customer traffic and spending. The table below breaks down Domino's same-store sales over the last year: Category Q3 2023 Q4 2023 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Same-store sales (U.S.) (0.6%) 2.8% 5.6% 4.8% 3.0% Same-store sales (International) 3.3% 0.1% 0.9% 2.1% 0.8% Data source: Investor relations. Domino's has had a solid year with steady growth both inside and outside the U.S. But a skeptical investor may wonder if the company has only been able to generate this same-store sales growth through price hikes as inflation drives up the cost of materials and labor. However, this is far from the case with Domino's. On the latest earnings call, management said same-store sales in the U.S. have been experiencing rising transaction growth in addition to higher price mixes. It appears Domino's is seeing success from its rewards programs and marketing campaigns. Why Domino's should keep delivering The analysis below benchmarks Domino's against a peer set of other national restaurant stocks using the forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple. While there is a notable difference between Starbucks and the rest of this group, Domino's remains priced at a premium relative to its closest peer, Papa John's , and many other leading industry players. Data by YCharts . That said, I would argue that Domino's long-term track record warrants a premium valuation. Even though Domino's might not offer exposure to high-growth opportunities in emerging areas like artificial intelligence (AI) or big data, there is still a lot to like about the company. Buffett's recent investment is just another signal to consider Domino's stock as a compelling buy-and-hold opportunity.President-elect Donald Trump’s team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period that does not appear to include provisions for one key member of the team: the president himself. “There does not appear to be a provision addressing the requirement for the president-elect to address his conflicts of interest,” said Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. CNN has asked the Trump transition for comment on why there is no provision addressing Trump’s potential conflicts of interest. During his first term, Trump was repeatedly criticized by ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and on the campaign trail. Still, after winning in 2016, Trump took some nominal steps toward alleviating ethical concerns before entering the White House by pledging to relinquish control of his companies and put his business holdings in a trust, which was controlled by his two sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. He has made no such assurances this time. Rather, Trump lately has added potential conflicts of interest with some of his latest business dealings. Much of his wealth these days is tied up in stock for Trump Media & Technology Group, a newly publicly traded company that owns his social media website TruthSocial. While campaigning, he hawked several new products capitalizing on his name and fame, including a line of watches, some retailing for $100,000, that he launched through an opaque licensing agreement with a company of undisclosed origins. CNN traced the business to a shopping plaza in Sheridan, Wyoming, that is the registered address for dozens of other companies. Trump and his sons also kickstarted a cryptocurrency venture just weeks before the election, even as he promised to push through an agenda favorable to Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors. Trump has not said how he would guarantee that he won’t pursue these policies – with potentially massive implications for financial markets and the future of the US dollar – in the interest of benefiting his family’s new enterprise. The ethics agreement, posted late Tuesday to the General Services Administration’s website , otherwise “does appear to comply with most of the requirements in the Presidential Transition Act,” a law governing the protocols around transition activities, said Boyd. Updates to that act requiring the ethics pledge were introduced by Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, and signed into law by Trump in March 2020. The plan requires transition team members to “avoid both actual and apparent conflicts of interest,” to “safeguard classified information” and “non-public information and other information that is not readily available to the public.” It also prohibits team members who have participated in lobbying activities in the last year or are registered as lobbyists, and forbids team members from serving as registered foreign agents while serving the transition. Each team member is required to sign the code of ethical conduct detailing those provisions. Trump’s team blew past a pair of September and October deadlines to sign agreements with the Biden White House and General Services Administration laying the groundwork for a smooth transition. Democrats and watchdogs sounded the alarms over potential risks to national security and continuity between administrations in the absence of those agreements. Three weeks after the election, the Trump team submitted its ethics plan and signed the White House agreement, but skipped the GSA agreement, saying in a statement that the transition “will operate as a self-sufficient organization” and that its “organizational autonomy means a streamlined process.” Trump’s team also has yet to sign an agreement with the Department of Justice to begin processing the security clearances needed for staffers to access classified information during the transition period, White House officials said, adding that “progress has been made towards an agreement.” The Trump transition did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry regarding whether it would enter into the agreement before Inauguration Day. CNN previously reported that Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs, people close to the transition planning said. Trump and his allies believe the FBI system is slow and plagued with issues that could stymie the president-elect’s plan to quickly begin the work of implementing his agenda, people briefed on the plans said. Critics say the background checks sometimes turn up embarrassing information used to inflict political damage. When he takes office January 20, Trump will have the authority to make his own changes to the security clearance system, which is largely based on executive orders. For instance, he could charge individuals he trusts to adjudicate the information found during background investigations and make a determination on clearance status, rather than the traditional federal experts who have traditionally managed that process. Still, Boyd said it was “promising” that progress has been made in the transition process. “We all continue to hope that agreement will be signed because it will reduce confusion if the Trump team has people with federally-vetted background investigations ready to go on day one,” she said. Trump’s team declined to sign an agreement with the GSA unlocking access to federal resources like office space and secure communications equipment, which has also raised concerns. In the absence of that agreement, Boyd said, Trump’s team “may not be operating on a federally-approved secure network,” requiring federal agencies to find ways to protect the sensitive information they share with incoming officials. The White House on Tuesday night provided guidance to various agencies relating to “best practices to facilitate secure information sharing” with the Trump transition team if needed, a White House official said. White House deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian met with the Agency Transition Directors Council, which is comprised of senior career leaders at agencies across the federal government, and the deputy chiefs of staff for each department on Wednesday morning to discuss next steps for working with Trump’s agency landing teams, the official said. The Trump transition team signing the White House agreement, Boyd said, is a “really important step.” “Both parties should be commended on reaching an agreement to share information. The most concerning scenario would be if the incoming president’s team was not communicating with federal agencies. Now that the communication is open, we’re in a better position for sharing information about national security risks,” Boyd said.711 bet zone
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The decision by Tesco, Musgrave and the BWG Group came after a woman who said Mr McGregor raped her won a civil claim for damages against him. Nikita Hand, who accused the sportsman of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, won her claim against him for damages in a case at the High Court in the Irish capital. In a statement, a spokesman for Musgrave said: “Musgrave can confirm these products are no longer available to our store network.” The network includes SuperValu, Centra, Daybreak and Mace. A Tesco spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we are removing Proper No Twelve Whiskey from sale in Tesco stores and online.” A spokesperson for BWG Group said: “The products are no longer listed for distribution across our network of Spar, Eurospar, Mace, Londis and XL stores, including Appleby Westward which operates over 300 Spar stores in the south west of England.” It is understood that other retail outlets including Costcutter and Carry Out will also stop stocking products linked to Mr McGregor. He and some of his business partners sold their majority stake in the Proper Number Twelve Irish whiskey brand. He was reported to have been paid more than £103 million from the sale to Proximo Spirits in 2021. On Monday, a popular video game developer decided to pull content featuring the MMA fighter. The Irish athlete has featured in multiple video games, including voice-acting a character bearing his likeness in additional downloadable content in the Hitman series. Mr McGregor’s character featured as a target for the player-controlled assassin in the game. IO Interactive, the Danish developer and publisher of Hitman, said in a statement: “In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately. “We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. “Consequently, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr McGregor from our storefronts starting today.” Last Friday, the High Court jury awarded damages amounting to 248,603.60 euros (around £206,000) to Ms Hand. Mr McGregor made no comment as he left court but later posted on social media that he intended to appeal against the decision.