Buffett Takes Stakes in Chemical, Cable Firms

Famed stock picker Warren Buffett said this week he had acquired a 6.8% stake in Great Lakes Chemical Corp. and an 8.1% stake in TCA Cable TV as of Dec. 31--not that he’d make a big deal about it.

In a 1997 letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission that was just reported last week, the billionaire warned that investors shouldn’t jump on everything they read about his trading moves because his firm, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., takes advantage of rules that let it keep some of its filings secret for at least 12 months. And things could change in the interim.

Great Lakes Chemical of Indianapolis is the world’s leading producer of certain specialty chemicals. TCA Cable TV, based in Tyler, Texas, is the nation’s 16th-largest cable television operator. Buffett’s stakes are owned via his Geico insurance unit.

Buffett also announced that he’s increased his holdings in MGI Properties, a Boston-based real estate investment trust, to 8.3% from 5.1%. The “Oracle of Omaha” disclosed his stakes in documents filed with the SEC on Tuesday.

Great Lakes rose $4.63 on Wednesday to close at $40.25 and MGI rose 6 cents to $27.94, both on the New York Stock Exchange. TCA Cable rose $6.38 to $43.13 on Nasdaq.