Berkshire Hathaway

OMAHA -- Billionaire Warren Buffett's company reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil during the last three months of 2009, according to documents filed last week. Berkshire Hathaway disclosed those moves and several other changes to its $58 billion U.S. stock portfolio in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing offers a snapshot of the Omaha-based company's holdings as of Dec. 31. Berkshire added to its stakes in Iron Mountain, Becton...

CONNECTICUT Fate of Sandy Hook property unclear Newtown officials are struggling to move toward a decision on what to do with the elementary school where 20 first-graders and six staff members were fatally shot in December, after teachers expressed grief and frustration during a closed session before a public meeting. A task force of 28 local elected officials had considered voting Friday night on a recommendation to the local school board but decided to continue the discussion Friday.

Newspapers are yesterday's news in a digital world, or so many believe. Warren Buffett, one of the world's savviest investors, begs to differ. Richmond-based Media General said Thursday morning that it was selling 63 daily and weekly newspapers, including its flagship Richmond Times-Dispatch, to Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $142 million in cash. The deal continues Buffett's long infatuation with newspapers. He was an early investor in (and remains a major shareholder of) the Washington Post...

TRADING Three more charged with insider trading Federal prosecutors announced criminal charges Tuesday against three new defendants in the government's broad-based insider trading probe. Authorities said David Riley, a former chief information officer at Foundry Networks, leaked tips about the company's pending $3 billion takeover in 2008 by Brocade Communications Systems to hedge fund analyst Matthew Teeple. The government said Teeple then tipped others, resulting in trades that led to more...

OMAHA — Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting Saturday was dominated by somber topics as CEO Warren Buffett explained to about 40,000 shareholders how the company had been battered by a trusted former employee's misdeeds and a string of natural disasters. Buffett assured the crowd at an Omaha convention center that Berkshire is strong enough to withstand both the David Sokol scandal and the estimated $1.7 billion in insurance losses that drove profits down 58 percent in the first quarter.

U.S. stocks rose for a second straight week, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to an 11-month high, as increases in retail sales and industrial production signaled that the economy is recovering. General Electric and Apple advanced as gains at factories and retailers topped economists' estimates. Dow Chemical led materials companies to the biggest rally among 10 industry groups as it said it reduced a bridge loan. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 2.5 percent, to 1068.30.

HIGHLIGHTS Monday morning, Fox Business Network's Liz Claman interviews Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charles Munger, and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates on FBN at 9:30 a.m., after the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. A few weeks before her daily syndicated talk show wraps up for good, Oprah hosts President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as guests on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (WJLA at 4). Cuddy's mom (guest star Candice Bergen)

Ask Warren Buffett for a photo, he'll ask for your hand in marriage. It turns out the Oracle of Omaha has a signature move—and it involves popping the question to the many ladies who ask for a picture with him. And there are many. The first time I saw Buffett propose was at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit last fall. His right knee touched down on the pink carpet as he posed for the camera in a mock proposal to the summit's main organizer, reporter Pattie Sellers.

Warren Buffett, a billionaire investor whose campaign for higher income taxes on the wealthy has put his name in the middle of the presidential campaign, said Tuesday that he has prostate cancer. The cancer is Stage 1, was found by routine testing and is "not remotely threatening," the 81-year-old wrote in an open letter to shareholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. "I feel great — as if I were in my normal excellent health," he wrote. "And my energy level is 100 percent.

OMAHA, May 2 -- Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett spent Saturday praising the decisions U.S. officials made to try to right the economy in the midst of a "financial hurricane" and defending the ones he made to help his company navigate the storm. The state of the economy and his company Berkshire Hathaway's recent performance were among the first things addressed at Berkshire's annual shareholders' meeting. About 35,000 people packed an arena to listen to Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charles T. Munger answer...

Ask Warren Buffett for a photo, he'll ask for your hand in marriage. It turns out the Oracle of Omaha has a signature move—and it involves popping the question to the many ladies who ask for a picture with him. And there are many. The first time I saw Buffett propose was at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit last fall. His right knee touched down on the pink carpet as he posed for the camera in a mock proposal to the summit's main organizer, reporter Pattie Sellers.

The Economic Club of Washington rolled out a special head table — and laid in a special soft drink supply — at the Marriott Wardman Park in the District last Tuesday for the club's 25th anniversary, where it hosted billionaire investor Warren Buffett . Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company owns around 21 percent of The Washington Post Co., and he is a former member of The Post's board of directors. Buffett, 81, sat between former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and attorney...

Newspapers are yesterday's news in a digital world, or so many believe. Warren Buffett, one of the world's savviest investors, begs to differ. Richmond-based Media General said Thursday morning that it was selling 63 daily and weekly newspapers, including its flagship Richmond Times-Dispatch, to Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $142 million in cash. The deal continues Buffett's long infatuation with newspapers. He was an early investor in (and remains a major shareholder of) the...

Warren Buffett, a billionaire investor whose campaign for higher income taxes on the wealthy has put his name in the middle of the presidential campaign, said Tuesday that he has prostate cancer. The cancer is Stage 1, was found by routine testing and is "not remotely threatening," the 81-year-old wrote in an open letter to shareholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. "I feel great — as if I were in my normal excellent health," he wrote. "And my energy level is 100 percent.

HIGHLIGHTS Monday morning, Fox Business Network's Liz Claman interviews Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charles Munger, and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates on FBN at 9:30 a.m., after the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. A few weeks before her daily syndicated talk show wraps up for good, Oprah hosts President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as guests on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (WJLA at 4). Cuddy's mom (guest star Candice Bergen)

OMAHA — Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting Saturday was dominated by somber topics as CEO Warren Buffett explained to about 40,000 shareholders how the company had been battered by a trusted former employee's misdeeds and a string of natural disasters. Buffett assured the crowd at an Omaha convention center that Berkshire is strong enough to withstand both the David Sokol scandal and the estimated $1.7 billion in insurance losses that drove profits down 58 percent in the first...

It must be a bear market because even billionaire Warren E. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has slumped more than 20 percent since December. The decline exceeds the drop of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and marks the worst first half for the investment and holding company since 1990. Price competition has driven down revenue at Berkshire's insurance units, which account for about half of its income. Berkshire is "close to getting more fairly priced," said Charles Hamilton, an analyst at FTN...

Mr. Warren E. Buffett Berkshire Hathaway Omaha, NE Dear Mr. Buffett: I don't make a habit of corresponding with directors of The Washington Post Co. -- it's not normally a great career move. However, your recent comments about the folly of investing in newspapers received much attention and hit close to home. I hope you won't mind my offering a different view. There's no denying that the newspaper business is in a bad way. Virtually every big city daily has been losing money,...

OMAHA -- Billionaire Warren Buffett's company reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil during the last three months of 2009, according to documents filed last week. Berkshire Hathaway disclosed those moves and several other changes to its $58 billion U.S. stock portfolio in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing offers a snapshot of the Omaha-based company's holdings as of Dec. 31. Berkshire added to its stakes in Iron Mountain, Becton...

MORTGAGE FINANCE The Obama administration on Friday denied Goldman Sachs 's offer to buy millions of dollars in assets from struggling mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae . The offer was not a good deal for taxpayers, according to an administration official. "In short, withholding approval of the proposed sale affords more protection of the taxpayers than does providing approval," the official said. Goldman wanted to buy millions of dollars in Fannie Mae assets in part because it would provide a tax benefit.