Warren Buffett Watch
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Adds GM to Holdings
- Lunch With Warren Buffett: $2 Million-Plus?
- Warren Buffett: Lady Di Called Bill Clinton 'Sexiest Man Alive'
- CNBC Transcript: Warren Buffett on Squawk Box
- Warren Buffett: We're Buying Two US Stocks
- Warren Buffett to CNBC: Mark Zuckerberg Right to Keep Tight Control Over Facebook
- Warren Buffett: Apple and Google Too Risky For Me
- Warren Buffett Reassures Shareholders on Cancer and Succession
- Warren Buffett Recently Considered $22 Billion Acquisition
- Warren Buffett 'Very Comfortable' With Berkshire Stock Buybacks
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Europe May Be Unprepared for Greece Exit: Official
- How Boaz Weinstein and Hedge Funds Outsmarted JPMorgan
- Marc Faber: 100% Chance of Global Recession
- Buying the Right Sell-Off Stocks
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- What Would Greek Exit Mean for the US Economy?
- Steve Jobs and Mickey Drexler: A Tale of Two Retailers
- Are Investors Running Out of Safe Havens to Put Money?
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- How Weinstein, Hedge Funds Outsmarted JPMorgan
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- Week Ahead: Europe Has Wall Street Bull on Short Leash
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- JPMorgan to Shake Up Risk Team After Big Loss: Report
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- EU Finalizes Bank Reforms; Shifts Burden to Bondholders
- Spain's Bankia Eyes Stake Sales After Record Bailout
- EU Set to Launch Action Against China Over Telecom Aid
Buffett Previews Berkshire's Q1 Earnings Report
Text Size 
Executive Producer
 |
Warren Buffett started the second half of today's question-and-answer session with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders by giving them a preview of next Friday's earnings report for the first quarter.
Buffett says operating earnings will be about $1.7 billion, after taxes. That compares to around $1.9 billion last year, and works out to a decline of almost 11 percent.
He partially attributes the drop to losses in Berkshire's investing portfolio and to losses on credit default swaps.
Book value fell about six percent during the period.
Berkshire's float has increased by about $2 billion due to a Swiss Re transaction.
Utility earnings are "reported down" a bit, partially due to a prior benefit from Berkshire's now discarded deal with Constellation Energy Group. Buffett says he was disappointed that deal didn't work out.
He expects Berkshire's utility and insurance businesses will do "quite well" unless there is some "huge natural catastrophe."
Aside from insurance and utilities, all of Berkshire's other businesses "are basically down."
Buffett reports that Berkshire ended the first quarter with about $22.7 billion in cash, but it spent $3 billion the very next day on its Dow Chemical transaction.
Buffett notes that Berkshire's credit default swaps have gotten worse since he wrote his annual letter to shareholders earlier this year. Earlier today, he said he expects losses from some of those contracts.
Current Berkshire stock prices:
 |
Class A: [US;BRK.A
Loading...
()
]
Class B: [US;BRK.B
Loading...
()
]
For more Buffett Watch updates follow alexcrippen on Twitter.
Questions? Comments? Email me at
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
