Berkshire Hathaway 2002 Annual Letter

Charlie and I believe Berkshire should be a fortress of financial strength – for the sake of our owners, creditors, policyholders and employees. We try to be alert to any sort of megacatastrophe risk, and that posture may make us unduly apprehensive about the burgeoning quantities of long-term derivatives contracts and the massive amount of uncollateralized receivables that are growing alongside. In our view, however, derivatives are financial weapons of ... Full Story »

Posted by Steve Myers

See All Reviews »

Review

Jon Mitchell
4.4
by Jon Mitchell - Aug. 3, 2010

This is a bit of a historic document now. I'm glad it's in the NewsTrust database for posterity. This is the letter in which Buffett referred to derivative instruments as "financial weapons of mass destruction," presaging the unfathomably deep financial collapse of 2008/09, and utterly redefining the term "right on the money."

See All Reviews »

Jon's Rating

Overall
4.4

Good
from 10 answers
Quality
4.2
Information
4.0
Insight
5.0
Style
4.0
Context
4.0
Expertise
4.0
Originality
4.0
Relevance
4.0
Responsibility
5.0
Popularity
5.0
Recommendation
5.0
More How our ratings work »