Buffett's "time bomb"

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credit default swaps -- complex derivatives originally designed to protect banks from deadbeat borrowers -- are adding to the turmoil.

"This was supposedly a way to hedge risk," says Ellen Brown, the author of the book "Web of Debt."

"I'm sure their predictive models were right as far as the risk of the things they were insuring against. But what they didn't factor in was the risk that the sellers of this protection wouldn't pay ... That's what we're seeing now."

Brown is hardly alone in her criticism of the derivatives. Five years ago, billionaire investor Warren Buffett called them a "time bomb" and "financial weapons of mass destruction" and directed the insurance arm of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc  to exit the business.

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http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/subprime

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Thursday, 18 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett Picks Up Constellation Energy At Bargain Price

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26772669

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Berkshire shares had fallen deep into "bear market" territory, with a 25 percent plunge from their all-time high set last December.
To add insult to injury, Berkshire was severely underperforming the S&P 500 index for the year: down 21.0 percent to the benchmark's drop of almost 16 percent
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26789892

[...]

ขอบคุณครับ  :D

[mid9blue]

Thanks krab