Altria to spinoff international tobacco arm; no timing details until after 1/08 meeting.

....in the news

It's been a slow week of spinoff news; however, there are some worthwhile filings to read to get caught up with the happenings in the spinoff space.

Disney set to spinoff ABC Radio Holding 2Q2007 per latest SEC filing

Two firms eye eSpeed

Morgan Stanley sets spinoff ratio for Discover at 1-for-2

....in the news

Citigroup analysts recommend GE spinoff NBC Universal

Nacco to spinoff Hamilton Beach line and receive special dividend of $110M by the end of June '07

Alcoa hires bank to explore possible spinoff of Reynolds Wrap, Electronics division

Verizon plans to spinoff Wireline

Morse to spin mobile banking unit Monitise

EMC to partially spinoff VMware in IPO

....in the news

Thompson Pharmaceuticals to be spun off from iVoice. The distribution date will be soon after the SEC approves the form SB-2 registration statement.

Altadis agrees to spin off logistics business

Fat Pitch Financials explains its thesis for recent Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) spin off from ADP (ADP)

NCR to spin off Teradata divition in January 2008

"SMG To Spin Off Virgin Radio, Europe's First Online Broadcaster"

Fission Energy raises $4M spin off IPO

A good questions to ask posed by dealbreaker.com, GS: "spin-off or transparency"

....in the news

A Sam's Club spinoff? Insider reveals the secrets of the "bat cave."

PXD asset spinoff rumor sends shares soaring 10%. WSJ reports that spinoff talk, according to analysts, "was fueled Wednesday by an investor presentation the company made."

M&I to spinoff Metavante in $4.25B deal later this year. Shareholders will receive 1 share of Metavante stock for every 3 shares of M&I.

....in the news

Kraft down after spinoff from Altria

Shareholder demands breakup of The Brink's Co. (BCO) via a tax-free spinoff

IVG Immobilien AG may possibly spinoff its caverns unit for more than $1.3B

The Man Group decides to spinoff brokerage unit from asset management business

Microsoft's announces wireless software spinoff

Morgan Stanley files S-1 for Discover Financial spinoff

Buffett Speaks

A couple hours after hitting Berkshire's website, the press, investors, and even a few suburban housewives anxiously read Buffet’s latest annual shareholders' letter. This is seen as much a yearly ritual to gather nuggets of wisdom from the world's most renowned investor as to hear the company's financial results.

The most newsworthy story for most is the talk of his successor(s), and the spinoff of his role into two: CEO and chief investment officer (CIO). This still remains a mystery and is subject to speculation, though the company has very capable and rational people who could take over: Geico’s Tony Nicely; insurance exec. Ajit Jain, et al. I think it will be someone within Berkshire who becomes CIO. Though that hasn’t stopped a 4-year-old from applying.

The talk of seeking "business judgment" when searching for board members resonates simplicity and a welcomed lack of bureaucracy in a world awash with “synergies” and “strategy.”

Does anyone else find it curious that Buffett bashed metro newspaper economics while Berkshire owned over $200M of Gannett Inc. as of Q4 2006? And for those of you wondering the stocks alluded to in the equities section that Berkshire is still buying, well, you'll have to do your homework on that one.

His best investing tip of the year: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."