Warren Buffett Watch
- Warren Buffett and the Crisis: 'Brilliant Moves Interspersed with Some Surprising Errors'
- Warren Buffett to Sell Stakes In Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern
- BNSF CEO: Buffett's Bid for Railroad "Warmly Received" In Washington
- Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets Furloughs 495 Pilots
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway May Lose Only Remaining AAA Credit Rating
- Buffett to CNBC: Berkshire Talking to 5 Firms About Buying Tax Credits
- CNBC Transcript: Warren Buffett Explains His Railroad 'All-In Bet' on America
- Warren Buffett to CNBC: Berkshire Businesses Doing 'Just a Tick Better'
- Warren Buffett Tells CNBC Burlington Northern Buy Is 'Bet' On America
- Warren Buffett Sells More Moody's After Stock Rebounds
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Apple Surpasses Nokia as Top Cellphone Maker by Profits
- Herbalife Vs. Hedge Funds
- AIG CEO Ready to Quit over Pay Constraints: Report
- China Factory Output Leaps to 19-Month Highs
- Three Things the US Can Do To Stop the Dollar's Decline
- Cramer Jeers J&J, Applauds Abbott
- Gold Heading to $1150: Art Hogan
- America Is On Sale
- Beware of 'Trampling Effect' When Market Tops: Manager
- Gold Heading to $1150: Art Hogan
- Starbucks Brews Up Growth
- Farr: An Extended Period—No Fat Lady in Sight
- More Upside if S&P Passes This Number: Market Pro
- Murdoch Lashes Out At Google
- Fighting The Flu Vaccine Critics
- Nov. 10: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Shadow Inventory Dwarfs Loan Mods
- US Recovery to be Weak, Erratic: Top Fed Officials
- AIG CEO Ready to Quit over Pay Constraints: Report
- Retail Earnings in Focus Ahead of Shopping Season
- Apple Surpasses Nokia as Top Handset Maker by Profit
- Brazil's Largest Cities Hit by Blackout
- In This Relay-Race Market, Who Gets Baton Next?
- Workers Staying Put at Their Jobs as Jobless Surges
- Ponzi Proceeds: Bidding on Madoff's Toys
- Toll Brothers: More Contracts Signed, but Sales Down
Text Size 
Executive Producer
Options on Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares begin trading today on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
 |
Berkshire's Class B shares, worth roughly 1/30th of a Class A share, closed yesterday (Wednesday) at $2874. Current price: [US;BRK.B
Loading...
()
]
The CBOE notes it is "hard to tell what kind of options volume will ensue" given the relatively light trading volume of the underlying shares.
Options are often used by investors either for speculation, or as a form of insurance.
The CBOE provides extensive information through its Options Institute, including a run through of basic options concepts.
As Bloomberg notes, Berkshire is not involved in the buying or selling of options on its stock and makes no money from the trading activity.
Buffett says he generally doesn't like to use options, but there are exceptions.
Most notably, Berkshire has sold billions of dollars worth of put options on several equity indexes, making a controversial bet on the long-term health of global stocks.
Berkshire also sold put options on Burington Northern Santa Fe late last year.
Bloomberg quotes Buffett as saying last year, "Unusally, if you want to buy or sell a stock, you should buy or sell the stock. Using options, four times out of five you will be right, the last one you'll miss. I've virtually never used options as a way to enter or exit a position."
Current Berkshire stock prices:
 |
Class A: [US;BRK.A
Loading...
()
]
Class B: [US;BRK.B
Loading...
()
]
This post has been updated from its original version to include examples of Berkshire Hathaway's use of options.
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