Is there anything worth noting from Warren Buffet's latest shareholder letter?

Key Insights

• An eye-popping $25 billion net loss in the quarter was driven by $27.6 billion in unrealized losses from the investment portfolio. Buffett has warned investors to look more at underlying operating figures, as accounting rules now incorporate unrealized gains and losses from stocks into net income. He said the volatile fourth quarter featured several days where Berkshire’s stock portfolio swung more than $4 billion.
• Berkshire felt the ripple effects from Kraft Heinz Co.’s $15.4 billion writedown in the fourth quarter. As its biggest shareholder, Buffett’s company took a $2.7 billion markdown to its stake.
• Berkshire benefited from its railroad and energy businesses, which along with tax cuts helped boost overall operating results to $24.8 billion in 2018.
• The company’s insurance businesses posted an underwriting profit of $1.57 billion last year, rebounding from a $2.2 billion loss in 2017, the first in 15 years. That boosted overall operating earnings at the conglomerate 71 percent from a year earlier.

One key takeaway from the letter is Buffett's plans for more share repurchases, that "will take place at prices above book value but below our estimates of intrinsic value". This is interesting as Buffett is brushing aside politicians' attack on shares buyback. A week earlier, senators Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders said they will penalize "self-indulgent" corporations that buy back their own stocks, limiting the ability of companies to buyback shares.