[dmg102]

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Thursday took a $3.45 billion stake in Exxon Mobil Corp, reflecting strong support for a the company which has underperformed compared to its smaller peers.

[Timo]

My completely uneducated guess on his reasoning on buying Exxon would be that it's a very well established, strong, global company with virtually unlimited assets that he can put to very good use. Given the breadth and depth of Exxon's existing infrastructure, AND Warren's understanding that alternatives are inevitable, maybe he's buying into oil to refocus their sole fixation on a single-source product, and instead, diversify their product portfolio. He bought BNSF because he can see the writing on the wall that transport of commodities via truck is getting much more expensive, and the railroads will once again have a new, more valuable purpose in satisfying the world's consumer demands. Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but if anyone would have the forethought to transition a global oil company into the production of alternative energies, it's Warren Buffet. Well, other people would have this foresight, too, but Buffet is one of the few people alive who can actually afford to make it happen. Peak optimism.