"History is a wonderful thing, if only it was true"
-Tolstoy

Friday, April 30, 2010

Buffett and Derivatives

Buffett and Derivatives: Exactly Where Does He Stand? - MarketBeat - WSJ

"Here’s how he put his thoughts — and the thoughts of his longtime partner Charlie Munger — in his most recent letter to shareholders:

We have long invested in derivatives contracts that Charlie and I think are mispriced, just as we try to invest in mispriced stocks and bonds. Indeed, we first reported to you that we held such contracts in early 1998. The dangers that derivatives pose for both participants and society – dangers of which we’ve long warned, and that can be dynamite – arise when these contracts lead to leverage and/or counterparty risk that is extreme. At Berkshire nothing like that has occurred – nor will it.

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