In what appears to be a bet consumers will stick with discount retailers even after the economy rebounds, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway increased its Wal-Mart holdings by almost 90 percent during the summer.  It added almost 18 million shares, currently worth almost $1 billion, in the third quarter.   Read More

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was doing more selling than buying of stocks during the second quarter, but there is one new holding: New Jersey-based medical technology company Becton Dickinson.  Berkshire also added to its stake in Johnson & Johnson, although the holdings are still well below where they were before Buffett sold over 33 million shares last fall.   Read More

Even though Warren Buffett always says he likes stocks more when they're cheaper, he didn't do a lot of buying as Wall Street's major indexes fell to their bear-market lows (so far) in early March.  Berkshire Hathaway's first quarter stock portfolio snapshot shows no blockbuster buys. A few stakes did, however, get bigger during the first three months on the year.   Read More