Berkshire Hathaway and its chairman, Warren Buffett , are certainly bearing the brunt of this bear market in shares. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Berkshire Hathaway shares had fallen to a five-year low on concern about possible losses and writedowns from "bets the billionaire chairman has taken on world stock markets." Berkshire won't have to pay out on the contracts until "at least" 2019, but falling stock market prices and increased volatility in the interim require the company to take quarterly writedowns on those positions. Today, Bloomberg reports that writedowns from those derivative bets, along with losses in the company's stock portfolio, may cause Berkshire to report its worst results ever , according to the gauge most touted by Buffett: the company's book value per share. " Berkshire Hathaway Inc. may report its worst results since Warren Buffett took over in 1965, based on a measure the billionaire chairman cites on the first pag...
A trader's view of the stock market and emerging financial trends.