Since cars are big-ticket items, a drop in spending has manifested itself with utmost clarity in the auto retail space. US motor vehicle sales were down some 18% in June year over year. As a result, many car retailers have been punished in the market.

This week's Barron's looks at insurer, Markel. Markel's shares are down, but the company shares Berkshire like attributes that are worth considering.

Some big time value investors are investing in the auto industry

Five interesting stocks that were added the portfolio's of super-investors last quarter.

Why would Buffett be interested in Carmax? Could be that he expects a recession which would lead more people to the used car lots rather than buying them new.

Here is GuruFocus' actual tracking page for Tom Gayner of Markel (MKL) . You can see all of his positions as tracked by GuruFocus. His largest positions include Fairfax Financial (FFH), CarMax (KMX) , and Berkshire.

GuruFocus has added Tom Gayner of Markel (MKL) to its list of Gurus. According to GuruFocus, his top positions include Fairfax Financial (FFH) , CarMax (KMX) , and Berkshire. Some have suggested Gayner as a possible Berkshire CIO candidate. But, it seems almost every great investor has been mentioned in the press.