Online Stock Trading - Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Shreholders
Warren Buffett aka Warren Buffet aka the Oracle of Omaha has published his annual letter to shareholders on Saturday and revealed that 2008 was his worst year ever. But he was optimistic, saying that he felt like "a mosquito in a nudist colony, so many juicy targets" it is fair to say however that most people wonder if they are not in fact "nudists in a mosquto colony".Berkshire Hathaway saw a 62% fall in net income over 2008 and posted negative results for only the second time since 1965. Berkshire Hathaway's book value fell 9.6%.
Mr. Buffett took the blame for some of the poor decisions, “I did some dumb things,” he said but he also said othe rpeople had made even dumber decisions and stock market would be a "shambles" throughout 2009 and possible well beyond.
His two worst mistakes were buying ConocoPhillips shares at the top when oil was at $140 a barrel, that will cost Berkshire Hathaway several billion dollars.
He also acquired $244 million of shares in two Irish banks which are now 89% cheaper! He categorized these as "unforced errors".
Some people have criticized Warren Buffett saying he doesn't know what he's doing ! A bit rich for the guy who has been the most successful investor in the world for decades.
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On a totally unrelated topic credit card companies in the US have now started paying people to settle their balances ! Long-term debtors are no longer welcome, credit card providers now want to get rid of their liabilities and are prepared to pay people to go away ! See Credit Cards Paying Customers' Balances
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