Free Republic

Demand for private jets is way down and NetJets will lay off almost 500 pilots as a result -- almost 20% of its staff of 3,000 pilots. because of a decrease in demand. NetJets is a unit of investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway

It seems my previous article has garnered a bit of criticism from someone I hold in rather high regard, indicating that perhaps I have been less than clear in my criticism. Let me be clear: There is nothing wrong with making a lot of money, and leveraging your wealth into making even more money! It doesn't surprise me that those with lots of money get "special dispensation" in the form of conversations with Treasury Secretaries and other members of the government. The "little people" - that is you and I - will never get that sort of treatment, simply because...

Since I am still a young buck, I am often surprised to read past works of financial commentators who I respect very much and find that their commentary reflects present trends. I was directed by the excellent Felix Salmon to an article that Michael Lewis wrote in 1992 about Mr. Buffet's rescue of the troubled Salomon Brothers.  His windfall came out of the shareholders' pockets, since his cheap option dilutes the value of the existing shares. Although a few of them sued, the deal never met the popular resistance it deserved, mainly because it involved Buffett. Public feeling was that...

Derivatives plague Berkshire. Buffett said at the shareholders' meeting last week that losses from defaults and bad bets on derivatives would cut into the company's profit and revenue. Berkshire's insurance business, like many other insurers, has written some contracts on derivatives, promising to pay its trading partners in the event of default on the underlying assets. Defaults had been rising sharply ever since the housing market and economy took a beating. The company's derivative-related losses totaled $986 million in the quarter, down 7.6% from the $1.1 billion of derivative losses the company suffered in the year-earlier quarter. The recession has...

Two towns in Berkshire are suffering a rise in the rat population because vermin have developed near-immunity to standard poisons, pest control experts have warned. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) is calling on the Government to allow the use of more powerful pesticides to contain Britain's growing rodent population. It is estimated that their numbers have swelled by 13 per cent in the past year to more than 50 million, one for every person living in England. doubled in the past 12 months. Exeter council has seen a 66 per cent rise in vermin call-outs in 2008, while there...

Berkshire's stock has fallen 39 percent since December 2007, but Buffett said no stock buybacks are planned because Berkshire's share price is not "demonstrably below" the company's intrinsic value. Profit fell 62 percent last year. Buffett offered a gloomy forecast for parts of the economy and Berkshire itself, saying some units are laying off workers as managers "look at the reality of the current situation." Warren Buffett told a record crowd at a somber annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc that first-quarter operating profit fell and the company's book value declined 6 percent, as the recession hurt many of...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service said late Wednesday that it cut the Aaa rating of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA: Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKB 2,915.00, -5.00, -0.2%) because falling equity markets and a prolonged recession have dented the company's capital.

Berkshire Museum puts a face on its mummy By Jenn Smith, Berkshire Eagle StaffFriday, April 18 Article Last Updated: 04/18/2008 06:29:43 AM EDT PITTSFIELD — The mummy has returned. And he has new tales to tell. One of the county's most beloved relics — the nearly 2,300-year-old corpse of the ancient priest Pahat — is back on view at the Berkshire Museum's recently reopened Ancient Civilizations gallery. But now, thanks to modern forensic science and technology, specialists have been able to put flesh to his bones, creating a three-dimensional reconstruction of Pahat's head. Further research has also revealed that Pahat...

"Charlie and I believe Berkshire should be a fortress of financial strength" wrote Warren Buffett. That was five years before the subprime-credit meltdown. "We try to be alert to any sort of mega-catastrophe risk, and that posture may make us unduly appreciative about the burgeoning quantities of long-term derivatives contracts and the massive amount of uncollateralized receivables that are growing alongside. In our view, however, derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal." That warning was in Buffett's 2002 letter to Berkshire shareholders. He saw a future that many others chose to...

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett had a good year in 2007, thanks to Berkshire Hathaway's stable insurance operations in a disaster-free 12 months, but he's not expecting a repeat. That party is over,” he wrote in his eagerly awaited annual letter to shareholders. “It is a certainty that insurance-industry profit margins, including ours, will fall significantly in 2008. Prices are down, and exposures inexorably rise.” He predicted that even with another disaster-free year, the industry's profitability will decline. “If the winds roar or the earth trembles, results could be far worse.” On Friday Buffett stated in his annual report to shareholders...

We recently pulled the most recent 13-F of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to track its holdings and recent performance. Due to Warren Buffett's generous donation, the Foundation is loaded with Berkshire shares. At the end of 2007, BRK/B made up 46% of the Foundation's equity holdings. Because of Berkshire, the Foundation is heavily overweight the Financials sector at 46.93% (vs 17.58% for the S&P 500). It is also overweight Healthcare, Consumer Staples and Industrials. The Foundation is underweight Telecom, Consumer Discretionary and Energy, and it has a 0% weight in Technology, Utilities and Materials. We're guessing that the...

Mr. Buffett also defended his charitable contribution to organizations that support women's reproductive rights, such as Planned Parenthood. "Men set the rules for a lot of years, and I think it's wonderful that women can make reproductive choices," Mr. Buffett replied, as shareholders applauded and cheered. "I think it's a terrific organization," Mr. Buffett added, referring to Planned Parenthood. "I really think it's too bad that for millenia, women not only in the U.S. but all over the world, have had involuntary bearing of babies."

Bloomberg articles are available via link only, per FR policy. Read story here.

Two people have been injured after an 'item of mail' exploded at the offices of a company in Wokingham, Berkshire. The incident comes just a day after a letter bomb exploded at an office in London. More to follow...

Insurance probes reach top execs AIG's Greenberg, Berkshire's Buffett become involvedBy Alistair Barr, MarketWatch Last Update: 3:06 PM ET March 7, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Insurance investigations that began last year have now reached the very top of the industry. Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, chairman and chief executive of American International Group, the largest insurer in the world, and Warren Buffett, the billionaire investing legend who heads Berkshire Hathaway, have become involved in the probes in recent weeks. "The icons of the business now are being called on to explain some of their transactions," said Andy Barile, an insurance industry...

According to USA Today, "Our greatest businessmen (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) think we are doomed to fail." Gates demonstrated his pessimism in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when he told reporters, "I'm short the dollar. ... The ol' dollar, it's gonna go down." It's not surprising that the world's richest man came down from the Alps pessimistic. The misconceptions, myths and superstitions that pass for sound economics in Europe these days remind us that while socialism may be dead as a political force in the world, its zeitgeist of radical egalitarian leveling, gigantic government...

Peace protesters have set up camp at a military depot in Berkshire in an attempt to stop bombs being loaded on to United States Air Force B52 bomber planes. The group of about 16 protesters is refusing to move from the depot at Welford near Newbury, despite requests from Thames Valley Police officers. The demonstrators are attempting to stop the movement of munitions from the underground storage facility to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Fourteen long-range B52 bombers are stationed at the base ahead of possible action in Iraq. Even though it has been suggested that the bombs have already...

The "mass hallucination" that gripped the world's stock markets during the tech boom is ending, the US investment guru Warren Buffett has told the BBC. He said the markets were now "more realistic" compared with the share bubble of a few years ago, when investors ignored common sense and started "dreaming". Mr Buffett added that the hallucination had led to an erosion of accounting standards, which erupted so damagingly over the past few months. And he said investors should take a long-term view with their money if they wanted to be successful. Track-record Warren Buffett has become one of the...