By Joe Rauch

As CEO and primary shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK), Warren Buffett, the world's most famous investor, has developed a well-known reputation of buying big stakes in companies he believes in. When Buffett buys shares of a company for BRK, the markets translate his moves as a vote of confidence for a firm's continued success. Although Berkshire Hathaway's holdings change, the company's most recent SEC filings* reveal where the Oracle of Omaha is most heavily invested. Here are the 15 publicly traded stocks, by value, that are the biggest holdings of Berkshire Hathaway.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Express Co <AXP.N>, the largest U.S. credit card company by purchases, said on Friday it was eligible to issue $12.1 billion more of securities under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility plan, or TALF.

Not only have credit card companies continued to use practices that will be outlawed under a strict law due to take effect in February.

Not only have credit card companies continued to use practices that will be outlawed under a strict law due to take effect in February, in many cases their policies have gotten harsher since the law passed.

Several employers suspended 401 (k) matches to reduce costs during the recession, but a few are beginning to reinstate them.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said on Monday he was introducing legislation calling for a temporary freeze on credit card interest rates on existing balances.

Stocks relinquished earlier gains Friday as investors began to lock in some profits after an earnings-fueled rally this week.

Stocks relinquished earlier gains Friday as investors began to lock in some profits after an earnings-fueled rally this week.

Tech stocks shot out of the gate Friday after Microsoft and Amazon blew past earnings expectations. The Dow was up a few points at the start but the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1 percent as Microsoft gained 10 percent and Amazon soared 20 percent.

A late Thursday rally puts Wall Street on pace to chalk up its third consecutive week of gains, but as always, the positive momentum is subject to the whims of earnings and economic numbers once again this morning. 

American Express reported a profit that fell from a year ago but topped Wall Street's expectations as the credit card company trimmed costs, a decline in consumer spending stabilized and bad loans eased.

What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Thursday, Oct. 22.

After a 60 percent run-up in the stock market since March and the Dow again eclipsing 10,000, investors believe the market is priced to perfection. So if earnings fail to hold up their end, stocks could come under pressure.

In addition to the usual specialized brokerage and accounting services any commodity needs, carbon markets also require established standards to ensure credits are reliably similar and registries to track those credits from birth to retirement