STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 2 August 2012

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13. Berkshire Benefits As Buffett Wagers On U.S. Housing

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-02/berkshire-benefits-as-buffett-wagers-on-u-s-housing.html

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) is benefiting after billionaire Chairman Warren Buffett increased investments tied to the U.S. housing market and sidestepped bets on Europe amid the region’s debt crisis.

Berkshire’s Class A shares rose this week to the highest in 16 months. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which is expected to report second-quarter earnings tomorrow, is about 3 percent away from the top closing price since 2008.

Buffett added to holdings of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. home lender, bought real-estate brokers and bid on mortgage assets of bankrupt Residential Capital LLC as he bets on a rebound in housing in the world’s largest economy. Rather than spend his company’s cash pile on European companies after a 2008 trip to the region, he made his largest acquisitions in the U.S., including Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

“I don’t know if he’s lucky, smart or patriotic, but it’s worked out for him,” Cliff Gallant, an analyst at KBW Inc., said in a phone interview. He estimates that Berkshire will post an operating profit of $1,750 a share for the second quarter, a 6.7 percent increase from a year earlier.