Maybe Warren Buffett Is The Buyer of Last Resort in Financials (BRK-A, WFC, BAC, USB)

Yesterday evening’s FED FILINGS shows some interesting increases in holdings in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A).  He boosted holdings in his financial stocks, and it is helping the stocks today.  Keep in mind that this has a June 30 cut-off date, so Berkshire Hathaway will have actually been feeling some pain in these names.  Here are the increased holdings in financials and how it is helping the shares today after his filing:

Bank of America (BAC), up 1.7% today at $48.68. June 29 close: $48.89

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), up 1.2% at $34.07. June 29 close: $34.86.

U.S. Bancorp (USB), up 1.7% at $30.05. June 29 close: $32.95.

Interestingly enough, these have all held their ground better than the overall market since that cut-off date.  Maybe the Oracle of Omaha knows more than the market afterall.  Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) shares are at 111,100 today and closed at 109,475 on June 29.  Maybe the Oracle himself is a better investment than his underlying picks.

We made a list of the potential "whale of an acquisition" targets that fit certain ‘Berkshire" criteria after Warrnen Buffett made his statement.  So far, he’s been dark and quiet and has yet to do any such deal.  He’s probably also watching Dean hoping it heads more west and out range of much of the reinsurance-exposure areas where a hurricane would hit his pocketbook.

Jon C. Ogg
August 15, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.