that was the verdict of the vice chairman of berkshire hathaway brka brkb  charlie munger describing current stock markets and company valuations out of touch with reality at the sohn hearts  minds investment conference in sydney on friday “some of the valuations we saw in the dotcom boom were higher” he said according to the australian business review “but overall i consider this as being even crazier than the dotcom boom which blew up in 2000” specifically munger said many us companies were trading 35 times earnings making it tough for average investors to get a foothold with valuations the most extreme he’d seen in recent history one stock that is in favor with berkshire chairman warren buffett’s right hand man is discount retailer costco cost  which the 97year old said he likes over us ecommerce giant amazoncom amzn  costco’s business model is centered on its customer memberships which means those going into the stores are buying its products “i predict that costco will eventually become a huge internet player” he said the retailer’s business model also helps it to keep prices lower as it buys in bulk “we are all lucky to have costco” he said berkshire owns amazon but not costco munger also singled out one of berkshire’s holdings china electriccar group byd 1211  which he described as “one of the best companies in the world” he’s also backing the shift to renewable energy such as wind and solar “i love the fact we’re rapidly reducing the burning of coal and the burning of gasoline and diesel…and replacing them with electricity from renewable sources” one big dislike that hasn’t changed for munger is cryptocurrencies which he believes “should have never been invented” china made the right decision to ban them while the us “has made the wrong decision” not to he said bitcoin btcusd was trading below 57000 in the early hours of friday but has nearly doubled this year