Buffett’s Bummer

The billionaire investor Warren Buffett, stung by $955 million in losses from foreign-currency investments in 2005, cut his bet against the U.S. dollar this year, just before its steepest decline in 18 months.

Berkshire Hathaway, his insurance and investment company based in Omaha, Nebraska, had $5.4 billion in foreign-currency forward contracts at the end of March, down from as much as $21.8 billion in 2005, according to the company's earnings statements released last week. The U.S. Dollar Index, which is used to measure the dollar's value against six major currencies, fell 5.1 percent in the second quarter.

"It was the wrong timing," said Samarjit Shankar, director of foreign- exchange global strategy at Mellon Financial, based in Boston. "Even as shrewd an investor as Buffett can miss the timing sometimes."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/06/bloomberg/bxbuffett.php