Former NFL star Tre Boston gives back to hometown of Fort Myers for ThanksgivingHoliday Cheer: Send letters to Santa at Sunshine Ace Hardware
FORT MYERS Former NFL star Tre Boston gives back to hometown of Fort Myers for Thanksgiving Boston was joined by members of the Lehigh Senior High School Football team to help deliver 800 turkeys to those in need.
WINK NEWS Holiday Cheer: Send letters to Santa at Sunshine Ace Hardware Sunshine Ace Hardware will be serving as a drop-off location for any children looking to mail their holiday wish lists to the North Pole.
FORT MYERS BEACH Sand, sweat, and precision: Final day of sculpting on Fort Myers Beach Sunday was the final day of the 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship, hosted on Fort Myers Beach.
WINK Neighborhood Watch: Illegal gun possession, Kate Spade theft and deadly crash This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a gun possessed by a person with felony convictions, a Kate Spade thief and a man arrested for causing a crash that killed a man on Alligator Alley.
NORTH FORT MYERS 1 dead and 1 critically injured in double shooting in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported shooting in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral looking to increase their FEMA flood insurance discount The City of Cape Coral got good news from FEMA; the 25% flood insurance discount is staying in place for the next three years.
Cool start, mild afternoon with lots of sunshine on this Sunday The Weather Authority says Sunday started off even slightly cooler than Saturday morning, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across the area.
CAPE CORAL Community rallies behind hate crime victims and cleans the home After Cape Coral homeowners fell victim to vandals who destroyed their home with racist and hateful slurs, the community is rallying together to get the home back to its original state. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday. RELATED: Cape Coral home vandalized; homeowner calls it a “hate crime” On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony […]
FGCU FGCU volleyball wins fourth straight ASUN Tournament title The FGCU volleyball team beat Lipscomb in three sets to claim the program’s fourth straight ASUN Tournament title.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers community comes together for Thanksgiving turkey giveaway This time of year is especially stressful for people who are struggling financially. Adding all the holiday expenses on top of rent, food and basic necessities can leave people feeling anxious and off balance.
FORT MYERS Driver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Police Department has arrested a man accused of causing a multi-car crash in Fort Myers.
Chilly morning and a cool Saturday afternoon with lots of sunshine The Weather Authority says the weekend is starting off nice and chilly, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Regional Semifinals It’s the regional semifinal round of high school football in Southwest Florida. Check out the scores and highlights.
FORT MYERS BEACH New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation FEMA was sure to lay it out in a letter. Out of the five points listed, three areas need work on Fort Myers Beach to re-apply for the flood insurance discount.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident New exclusive surveillance video shows the moment a Cape Coral home is vandalized. The suspects painted racial slurs on the wall in red paint. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.
FORT MYERS Former NFL star Tre Boston gives back to hometown of Fort Myers for Thanksgiving Boston was joined by members of the Lehigh Senior High School Football team to help deliver 800 turkeys to those in need.
WINK NEWS Holiday Cheer: Send letters to Santa at Sunshine Ace Hardware Sunshine Ace Hardware will be serving as a drop-off location for any children looking to mail their holiday wish lists to the North Pole.
FORT MYERS BEACH Sand, sweat, and precision: Final day of sculpting on Fort Myers Beach Sunday was the final day of the 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship, hosted on Fort Myers Beach.
WINK Neighborhood Watch: Illegal gun possession, Kate Spade theft and deadly crash This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a gun possessed by a person with felony convictions, a Kate Spade thief and a man arrested for causing a crash that killed a man on Alligator Alley.
NORTH FORT MYERS 1 dead and 1 critically injured in double shooting in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported shooting in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral looking to increase their FEMA flood insurance discount The City of Cape Coral got good news from FEMA; the 25% flood insurance discount is staying in place for the next three years.
Cool start, mild afternoon with lots of sunshine on this Sunday The Weather Authority says Sunday started off even slightly cooler than Saturday morning, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across the area.
CAPE CORAL Community rallies behind hate crime victims and cleans the home After Cape Coral homeowners fell victim to vandals who destroyed their home with racist and hateful slurs, the community is rallying together to get the home back to its original state. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday. RELATED: Cape Coral home vandalized; homeowner calls it a “hate crime” On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony […]
FGCU FGCU volleyball wins fourth straight ASUN Tournament title The FGCU volleyball team beat Lipscomb in three sets to claim the program’s fourth straight ASUN Tournament title.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers community comes together for Thanksgiving turkey giveaway This time of year is especially stressful for people who are struggling financially. Adding all the holiday expenses on top of rent, food and basic necessities can leave people feeling anxious and off balance.
FORT MYERS Driver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Police Department has arrested a man accused of causing a multi-car crash in Fort Myers.
Chilly morning and a cool Saturday afternoon with lots of sunshine The Weather Authority says the weekend is starting off nice and chilly, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Regional Semifinals It’s the regional semifinal round of high school football in Southwest Florida. Check out the scores and highlights.
FORT MYERS BEACH New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation FEMA was sure to lay it out in a letter. Out of the five points listed, three areas need work on Fort Myers Beach to re-apply for the flood insurance discount.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident New exclusive surveillance video shows the moment a Cape Coral home is vandalized. The suspects painted racial slurs on the wall in red paint. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.
Special See’s Candies boxes are available during the Berkshire Hathaway 2022 Annual Shareholders Meeting weekend at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., Friday, April 29, 2022. (Anna Reed/Omaha World-Herald via AP) Warren Buffett gave Berkshire Hathaway investors a few details Saturday about how he spent more than $50 billion earlier this year and again reassured them that the company he built will endure long after the 91-year-old billionaire is gone. Tens of thousands of investors packed an Omaha arena Saturday to listen to Buffett and Berkshire’s vice chairmen answer questions at Berkshire’s annual meeting that was back in person for the first time since the pandemic began, but the turnout was likely smaller than when it used to regularly attract more than 40,000. Berkshire revealed in its earnings report Saturday morning that its mountain of cash shrank to $106 billion in the first quarter from $147 billion at the beginning of the year as Buffett invested $51 billion in stocks and repurchased $3.2 billion of its own shares. Buffett told shareholders that right after he told them in his annual letter on Feb. 26 that he was having trouble finding anything to buy at attractive prices, Berkshire spent more than $40 billion on stocks over the next three weeks. Buffett didn’t reveal everything he bought but did mention several highlights, including boosting Berkshire’s stake in oil giant Chevron to $26 billion, up from $4.5 billion at the beginning of the year to make it one of the conglomerate’s four biggest investments. Berkshire also spent billions buying up 14% of Occidental Petroleum’s shares in the first half of March, and added to its already massive investment in Apple stock. Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan said that with the Chevron and Occidental investments combined Berkshire now has more than $40 billion invested in the oil sector. Even before Saturday, it was clear Buffett was on the hunt because he agreed to buy the Alleghany insurance conglomerate for $11.6 billion and made another multibillion-dollar investment in HP Inc. Buffett said Saturday that he also bought three German stocks but didn’t name them. Buffett said Berkshire was able to take advantage of the fact that Wall Street is largely run like a “gambling parlor” with many people speculating wildly on stocks. “Occasionally, Berkshire gets a chance to do something, and it’s not because we’re smart. It’s because we’re sane.” Buffett said. Buffett revealed Saturday that he has made a big bet on Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. He said a couple months after one of Berkshire’s other investment managers bought roughly 15 million Activision shares, he increased that stake to roughly 9.5% of the company — or about 74 million shares — after Microsoft announced the deal in January because Activision stock was selling for less than the $95 per share deal price. Both Buffett and his investing partner, Charlie Munger, reiterated their past criticisms of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin because they don’t produce anything. Munger said cryptocurrencies are “stupid because they’re likely to go to zero” and “evil because they undermine the Federal Reserve.” Plus he said they make American leaders seem foolish for not banning them like China did. Even though Berkshire is led by Buffett and the 98-year-old Munger, investors didn’t ask much about succession planning perhaps because Buffett said a year ago that Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who oversees all of the company’s non-insurance businesses now, will eventually replace him as CEO. Berkshire also has two other investment managers who will take over the company’s portfolio. Buffett said he thinks Berkshire’s decentralized culture that relies heavily on trusting people to do the right thing and avoiding huge risks will help the company thrive well into the future and many of the companies it owns like BNSF railroad and its major utilities will remain stalwarts of the economy. “Berkshire is built to forever. There is no finish point,” Buffett said. “The new management — and the management after them and after them — are just custodians of a culture that’s embedded.” Investor Harris Kupperman, who leads the Praetorian Capital hedge fund, said he’s not especially worried about the Berkshire’s future because the eclectic conglomerate has a solid foundation. “He built it as well as he could build it. Nobody is ever going to be him. That’s obvious,” Kupperman said. He said perhaps Buffett’s eventual successor will be able to reevaluate some long-term Berkshire investments that Buffett has held for decades and decide whether it still makes sense to hang onto things like the company’s huge Coca-Cola stake. But Buffett’s and Munger’s ages are always in the back of Berkshire investors’ minds because there may not be too many more meetings with both of them. Munger sat in a wheelchair during Saturday’s meeting. “Actuarially, I don’t know how much longer they’ll be able to do this,” said Josu Elejabarrieta, 43, of Miami, who was attending his first meeting. In response to concerns about the current high inflation, Buffett told investors that the best thing they could do is invest in themselves so that someone will always want to pay them for their services regardless of how much a dollar is worth. He said all of Berkshire’s companies are paying extraordinarily higher prices for raw materials and products, but inflation should have been expected after all the money the government sent out during the pandemic. Buffett said he thinks the country has become more polarized than it has been at any time since the 1930s when public opinion split sharply about President Franklin Roosevelt. “I don’t think it’s a good development for society generally when people get tribal,” he said. After the question-and answer-period, Berkshire shareholders rejected several proposals backed by large pension funds, including one that would have required Buffett to give up his chairman role and ones that would have required the company to issue reports on the financial risks it faces related to climate change and on its diversity efforts. Berkshire and Buffett, who controls 32% of the vote, opposed all the proposals partly because the company is so decentralized that it requires few centralized reports. Earlier Saturday, Berkshire said its first quarter earnings fell more than 53% on a large swing in the paper value of its investments. Berkshire said it earned $5.46 billion, or $3.702 per Class A share, during the quarter. That’s down from $11.7 billion, or $7.638 per Class A share, a year ago. Buffett says that Berkshire’s operating earnings are a better measure of the company’s performance because they exclude investment gains and losses. By that measure, Berkshire’s earnings remained steady at $7.04 billion, or $4,773.84 per Class A share, up from $7.018 billion, or $4,577.10 per Class A share, a year ago. The four analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Berkshire to report operating earnings of $4,277.66 per Class A share. In addition to investments, Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 90 business outright, including BNSF railroad, several major utilities, Geico insurance and an assortment of manufacturing and retail companies. Janet Dalton of Overland Park, Kansas, said she has been attending the meetings for decades. Her family has an even longer association with the company because her dad bought stock in the Berkshire Hathaway textile company even before Buffett took it over in 1965 and began to convert it into the conglomerate it is today. They never sold the shares, which now sell for nearly $500,000 apiece. Dalton said she misses the more detailed business answers that Buffett used to give at the earlier meetings she attended. “When I first came to the meetings, it was like getting a mini-MBA. Now it has become more general,” Dalton said. But part of what keeps her coming back year after year is the chance to reconnect with friends and fellow investors she’s met at past meetings.