OMAHA, Neb. » Investors might question Warren Buffett’s long-standing aversion to tech stocks after his Berkshire Hathaway bought 9.8 million shares of Apple, a purchase that was reported Monday. Buffett has avoided technology companies because he said it was too hard to pick which ones would prevail in the long term, although he made an exception to that rule to buy a major IBM stake in 2011. The stake comes with the company’s shares under pressure. Billions in value have been wiped from the books since Apple reported a drop in iPhone sales in late April. Apple’s stock rose $3.36, or 3.7 percent, to $93.88 a share Monday in response to news of Berkshire’s stake, which was valued at $1.07 billion as of March 31, according to a filing Berkshire made Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

ON THE MOVE

Cain Kamano won first place at the District 49 Toastmasters International Speech Contest on Saturday, and he will represent Hawaii (out of more than 1,300 Toastmaster members) at the World Championship of Public Speaking to be held Aug. 17-20 in Washington, D.C. Kamano placed third in the semifinal at last year’s world championship in Las Vegas. Kamano has been a Toastmasters member since July 2008 and belongs to the Hawaiian Dredging Toastmasters Club.

There are 332,000 Toastmasters members worldwide and 15,400 clubs in 135 countries, and approximately 3,000 to 4,000 people attend the speech contest yearly. The organization’s mission is to provide a positive learning experience so members develop leadership and communication skills for personal growth and self-confidence.

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Kaiser Permanente has announced that Noe Foster is director of strategic communications in the Hawaii region. Foster has 14 years of experience, including serving as chief executive officer of Strategist LLC, co-founding Health TechApps and working on the senior executive team for AlohaCare.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures:

HONOLULU HARBOR