Berkshire Hathaway Has Taken A Beating In Recent Months

Many people are of the opinion that Warren Buffett is the greatest investor to have ever lived.

Holding the title of "world's greatest investor" hasn't excluded Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway from getting hammered in this current market environment.

On September 19th, 2008, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) closed at $147,000.

The markets were certainly declining at this point, however Buffett seemed to be skillfully navigating his company through the choppy waters of the market.

As you know now, the markets really started to fall apart in the fall of 2008, and Berkshire Hathaway was taken down with it. Berkshire Hathaway, which was seemingly impervious to the damage that was being inflicted on the markets, was suddenly being flushed down the toilet along with the rest of the market.

Things went from bad to worse for Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.

First the stock gave away its small gains for the year.

Then the stock continued to plummet, losing an unbelievable amount of value over just a few short months.

Berkshire Hathaway investors, hoping that the stock would bottom in early 2009, have now seen the valuation of the company drop another 20% in just 7 weeks.

The company has dropped to levels not seen since October of 2003.

So what's going on with Berkshire Hathaway?

There are a number of issues that are conspiring to drive down the shares, including:

1. Concerns over Buffett's large derivatives trade, in which he sold puts on the S&P 500 and three other foreign stock indexes.

2. Concerns that Berkshire Hathaway's Q4 earnings may include a large writedown when it comes to the large trade mentioned in point 1.

3. Many of the companies in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio are getting hammered.

4. Profits are down at many of Berkshire Hathaway's wholly owned businesses.

If you are looking at your portfolio numbers are feeling down, then you can take some consolation from the fact that the "greatest investor in the world" is feeling the pain as well.

This market has spared no one.

Filed under: The Economic Meltdown | General Knowledge