BUFFET’S BERKSHIRE PROFIT SINKS 96%; ECONOMY ‘IN SHAMBLES’

BUFFET’S BERKSHIRE PROFIT DECLINES 96%

SAYS ECONOMY WILL BE ‘IN SHAMBLES’ THROUGH 2009

U.S. TREASURY BUBBLE WILL BURST

BLOOMBERG: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted a fifth-straight profit drop, the longest streak of quarterly declines in at least 17 years. Fourth-quarter net income fell 96 percent to $117 million, or $76 a share, from $2.95 billion, or $1,904 a share, in the same period a year earlier, the Omaha, Nebraska-based firm said in its annual report…

BUFFET: “Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time…It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead…”

WSJ: Berkshire expanded derivative contract ownership last year; Berkshire’s underwriting units fell 17%…

FT: Berkshire will stick with same strategy…

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