Warren Buffet Increases His Bet Against the US. NZH and IHT. As
the dollar slumped 7.5 per cent against major currencies, Buffett
increased Berkshire’s position in the fourth quarter to US$21.4 billion
of foreign currency forward contracts, or agreements to purchase an
asset at a future date. “The evidence grows that our trade policies will put unremitting pressure on the dollar for many years to come,”
Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders. Berkshire’s forward
contracts rose from US$20 billion on September 30 and were spread among
12 denominations that Buffett declined to identify. Well over half of Bekshire's $3.5 billion in pretax gains in 2004 were from from bets against the dollar.
America's top investor speaks in harsh terms. “A
country that is now aspiring to an 'Ownership Society' will not find
happiness in — and I will hyperbole here for emphasis — a
'Sharecroppers Society.' But that is precisely where our trade
policies, supported by Republicans and Democrats alike, are taking us.” [John Robb's Weblog]