Here are Warren Buffett's 15 biggest investments

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Here are Warren Buffett's 15 biggest investments

warren buffett

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Warren Buffett's annual letter was released Saturday, and in it he listed Berkshire Hathaway's 15 biggest investments by market value.

Buffet said he and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger don't view the names as a "collection of ticker symbols - a financial dalliance to be terminated because of downgrades by 'the Street,' expected Federal Reserve actions, possible political developments, forecasts by economists or whatever else might be the subject du jour."

Instead, they see them as "an assembly of companies that we partly own and that, on a weighted basis, are earning about 20% on the net tangible equity capital required to run their businesses" without employing excessive debt.

Buffett called those returns "remarkable" and said they are "truly mind-blowing when compared against the return that many investors have accepted on bonds over the last decade - 3% or less on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds, for example."

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Below are Berkshire's 15 largest holdings ranked from smallest to largest market value at the end of 2018 (Note, Kraft Heinz, of which Berkshire owns 325,442,152 shares, is not included, because the conglomerate is part of a control group and must account for the investment on the "equity" method. Berkshire's Kraft investment has a cost basis of $9.8 billion and market value of $14 billion.):

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United Continental

United Continental

Ticker: UAL

Shares: 21,938,642

% of company owned: 8.1%

Cost: $1.195 billion

Market value: $1.837 billion

USG Corporation

USG Corporation

Ticker: USG

Shares: 43,387,980

% of company owned: 31%

Cost: $836 million

Market value: $1.851 billion

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Charter Communications

Charter Communications

Ticker: CHTR

Shares: 6,789,054

% of company owned: 3%

Cost: $1.21 billion

Market value: $1.935 billion

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Ticker: LUV

Shares: 47,890,

% of company owned: 8.7%

Cost: $2.005 billion

Market value: $2.226 billion

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Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs

Ticker: GS

Shares: 18,784,698

% of company owned: 4.9%

Cost: $2.38 billion

Market value: $3.138 billion

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines

Ticker: DAL

Shares: 65,535,000

% of company owned: 9.6%

Cost: $2.86 billion

Market value: $3.27 billion

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Moody's Corporation

Moody's Corporation

Ticker: MCO

Shares: 24,669,778

% of company owned: 12.9%

Cost: $248 million

Market value: $3.455 billion

Bank of New York Mellon

Bank of New York Mellon

Ticker: BK

Shares: 84,488,751

% of company owned: 8.8%

Cost: $3.86 billion

Market value: $3.977 billion

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JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase

Ticker: JPM

Shares: 50,661,394

% of company owned: 1.5%

Cost: $5.605 billion

Market value: $4.946 billion

US Bancorp

US Bancorp

Ticker: USB

Shares: 146,346,999

% of company owned: 9.1%

Cost: $5.548 billion

Market value: $6.688 billion

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American Express

American Express

Ticker: AXP

Shares: 151,610,700

% of company owned: 17.9%

Cost: $1.287 billion

Market value: $14.452 billion

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Ticker: KO

Shares: 400,000,000

% of company owned: 9.4%

Cost: $1.299 billion

Market value: $18.94 billion

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Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo

Ticker: WFC

Shares: 449,349,102

% of company owned: 9.8%

Cost: $10.639 billion

Market value: $22.423 billion

Bank of America

Bank of America

Ticker: BAC

Shares: 918,919,000

% of company owned: 9.5%

Cost: $11.650 billion

Market value: $22.642 billion

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Apple

Apple

Ticker: AAPL

Shares: 255,300,329

% of company owned: 5.4%

Cost: $36.044 billion

Market value: $40.271 billion