Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett’s renewed focus on U.S. takeovers may lead him to Sysco Corp., VF Corp. or Danaher Corp., according to criteria the billionaire investor lists in his annual report. The world’s most successful investor is seeking acquisitions after his company suffered the biggest annual drop in book value since he took control four decades ago.

Warren Buffett said on Monday that the U.S. economy had "fallen off a cliff" and eventually would recover, although a rebound could rekindle inflation worse than experienced in the late 1970s. Buffett also called on banks to "get back to banking" and said an overwhelmingly number would "earn their way out" of the recession, even if stockholders don't go along for the ride.

Read more ...

During the first half of 2008, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett was ranked by Forbes as the richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of $62 billion. He's amassed that fortune entirely through investing.

Following the credit crisis and the stock market dive, like the rest of us, he's worth quite a bit less by now, but what's a few billion when you've got that much money? Regardless of his exact current wealth, Buffett's almost universally accepted as one of the world's greatest stock market investors. When he talks, it pays to listen.

"Pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy." -- Warren Buffett, in his 2009 letter to shareholders. With the market averages now down to levels unseen since 1997, and panic selling sweeping the globe again this week, pessimism is rampant. If Buffett is right, we're in the friendliest environment for investors in my memory.

Read more ...

Warren Buffet, one of the world's most-renowned investors, lost over $200m on an investment in the big two Irish banks, according to a letter sent to shareholders in his vehicle Berkshire Hathaway.  Mr Buffet also admitted to getting badly stung on an investment in the Irish banks.

Read more ...

Warren Buffett’s iconic letter to shareholders has been published on Berkshire Hathaway's website. The legendary chairman of Berkshire Hathaway has been writing this annual letter for more than 32 years. In it he summarizes the performance of the various businesses that make up the portfolio of his conglomerate.

Berkshire Hathaway reports a rough, down 2008, cheered up by preferred-stock investments Buffett likes. Berkshire Hathaway reported today that its net worth fell in 2008 by $11.5 billion, a decline reducing its per-share book value by 9.6%. That was Berkshire's worst result in the 44 years that Chairman Warren Buffett has run the company and, in fact, only the second decline in that period. The other drop was 6.2% in 2001, a year hurt by 9/11 and other problems in Berkshire's insurance operations.

Yesterday Gannett slashed its quarterly dividends by 90% to $0.04/share. The company is responding to the recession in US and UK by reducing the payout to shareholders, which will save it close to $325 million/year. The new dividend is a cent and a half lower than its first dividend in 1967 of $0.054/share. The move comes about a month after company executives said they would meet to evaluate the dividend.

Arguably, Warren Buffett is the world’s greatest investor since perhaps the Rothschild’s. Yet the world’s premier investor extraordinaire is not immune to the destruction of stock market values since late 2007 as deflation attacks global markets. This is now the worst draw-down for Buffet since the 1973-1974 bear market, which took stocks down almost 50% in 21 months. This bear market is probably worse with the S&P 500 Index now 50% off its October 2007 all-time high 16 months ago.

An analyst on Monday upgraded shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., saying billionaire Warren Buffett's company has ample cash to take advantage of buying opportunities for currently cheap stocks. Fox-Pitt Kelton analyst Gary Ransom also said Berkshire Hathaway 's insurance operations are well-positioned to seize on market shifts, and its stock has reached a historically low and attractive valuation.

Read more ...