Who's that Hathaway?
Omaha native Dan Mirvish writes in the Huffington Post that Berkshire Hathaway's stock benefits whenever actress Anne Hathaway is in the news. He lists dates when Hathaway's movies opened and the Omaha investment company's stock increased, plus the days before and after last Sunday's Oscar ceremony, which Hathaway co-hosted.
Automatic stock trading computers can measure how frequently certain words appear in Internet traffic, on the theory that investors talk online about stocks they purchase. The computers might confuse e-mail buzz about “Hathaway,” the actress, with e-mails about “Hathaway,” the company, theorizes filmmaker Mirvish, whose credits include “Omaha (the Movie).”
Mirvish noted that Berkshire's share price rose 2.02 percent last Friday and 2.94 percent on Monday, possibly because of Oscar-related traffic, and 0.25 percent on Nov. 29 when she was named co-host.
He also cites opening dates for Anne Hathaway movies and Berkshire Hathaway share increases: Oct. 3, 2008, “Rachel Getting Married,” up 0.44 percent; Jan. 5, 2009, “Bride Wars,” up 2.61 percent; Feb. 8, 2010, “Valentine's Day,” up 1.01 percent; and March 5, 2010, “Alice in Wonderland,” up 0.74 percent.
Of course, Berkshire stock has been rising steadily over the past year, so days with gains have been plentiful. And Berkshire's Chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett, on Saturday issued his annual letter to shareholders, brimming with optimism about the future of American business.
Yet, maybe it's too bad there aren't actresses named Connie ConAgra, Velma Valmont or Consuela Cabela.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1080, steve.jordon@owh.com
twitter.com/buffettOWH
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
