Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway triples its profit
From afar, it looks just like any other annoyingly good quarter for the “Sage of Omaha’s” company. Profit was $3.2 billion, almost triple the $1.1 billion it made in the same quarter last year. But if you expect to see the really good signs for the global economy, well, you might have to wait. It turns out, most of the profits were made by derivative trade (similar to Goldman Sachs in the same quarter). Many of Berkshire’s operating businesses, like flooring company Shaw, Acme Brick, Nebraska Furniture Mart and NetJets, actually struggled to turn a profit, with NetJets losing money and having to lay off staff. Berkshire’s manufacturing arms, Acme Brick, paint company Benjamin Moore, Forest River RVs and Iscar Metalworking fared even worse in the recession environment. Read more: AP
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