Berkshire Hathaway Update

Quote of the week:

“When [Berkshire] buys common stock... we approach the transaction as if we were buying into a private business.”- Warren E. Buffett

Last week we reported that Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway had entered the ailing bond insurance market through the creation of Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp. This week, the newest division of Berkshire Hathaway, made its first deal insuring $10 million of New York City municipal bonds for Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp. was licensed in New York State near the end of December. It is reported that the company is also applying for licenses in Puerto Rico, California and a number of other U.S. states. The U.S. muni bond market is estimated to be a $2.5 trillion industry.