Thursday, May 3, 2012

Oops! Buffett Trails S&P 500 for Third Straight Year




Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) shareholders missed out on better returns from the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by sticking with Chairman Warren Buffett after each of his last three annual meetings Bloomberg reports.

Berkshire fell 2.4 percent from the firm’s April 30, 2011, meeting through yesterday, compared with the 2.8 percent advance in the S&P 500. (SPX) This year’s gathering, planned for May 5 in Omaha, Nebraska, concludes three years in which Berkshire climbed about 32 percent, trailing the S&P 500’s gain of around 60 percent.

Buffett, 81, is seeking to reassure investors that the $200 billion company he built over 42 years as chief executive officer is positioned to thrive after his eventual departure. Growth slowed in the last 15 years as Buffett, a former hedge fund manager, directed Berkshire’s earnings toward takeovers in industries like machine tools, power production and railroads.  Buffett beat the market between the 2008 and 2009 meetings as the financial crisis pushed the S&P 500 to a 38 percent drop, compared with a 31 percent decline at Berkshire….

Get the big picture at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-03/buffett-trails-s-p-500-for-third-straight-year.html

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