The legendary Warren Buffet is doing a great favor for investors by bring the investment term warrants back into the limelight.
Within the last two months, Buffett has stepped in and assisted with an infusion of capital in Goldman Sachs of $5 billion and General Electric of $3 billion. In both of these transactions Buffett insisted/demanded/requested/required that he also receive warrants. These warrants essentially are an equity kicker, an additional incentive or sweetener to get the deals done.
Warrants Buffett received on Goldman Sachs and GE were for a period of five years, thus giving him the opportunity to purchase more shares at a specific price within this five-year period of time. Warren Buffett with his wealth, financial status and bargaining skills was able to negotiate some great terms for himself.
So, briefly, let’s define a warrant: a warrant is a security issued by a company giving the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase the underlying security at a specific price and expiring on a specific date in the future.
Warren Buffett’s transactions were of course, private, and investors, like you and I, could not participate.
So the real title of this article should be, Warren Buffett Likes Warrants - Should You? And is there a way that investors can invest in warrants?
Yes. There are many companies that have warrants trading and specifically many of these companies are in the beaten-down natural resource sector. As we all know, virtually all of the resource companies have been hit hard and so have the warrants trading on these companies, which is providing incredible opportunities for savvy investors.
As a rule we suggest that investors select the warrants which are trading on companies that they like and which have a minimum remaining life of two or three years. We suggest warrants that have very long lives, and there are many in our database with three, four, five years, and more. Time is needed to get through these current treacherous financial waters and for the companies to execute on their business plans, thus making time our friend.
As my subscribers know, I have been selectively buying over the last couple of weeks and am comfortable with my purchases of shares and long-term warrants. I am building my inventory of shares and warrants to be sold at substantial higher prices in the coming months and years. Patience and good judgment will greatly reward investors.
To summarize, the only place to be, in our opinion, is in gold and silver (bullion, if you can find some), mining shares (yes, they will come back) and long-term warrants on selected mining shares.
For subscribers, we also provide a database for all companies with call options and leaps trading on the natural resource shares, in addition to the warrants – a valuable tool for all investors.
For those readers interested in warrants and why Warren Buffett is receiving warrants in his recent transactions, visit our website and learning center for more information.