August 8, 2011, 12:36 PM ET.
Berkshire, Other Insurers Get ‘Negative’ Tag from S&P.Article Comments (58) Deal Journal HOME
By Shira Ovide
Bloomberg NewsCue the music from “Jaws.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/08/08/berkshire-other-insurers-get-negative-tag-from-sp________________________
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After Standard & Poor’s bit an appendage from the U.S.’s credit rating, the credit-rating firm is smelling blood in the water at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
S&P today is marking down ratings on some U.S. insurance companies based on “direct and indirect sovereign risks” from the country’s credit going to AA+ from AAA.
Berkshire, which make big chunks of money from its insurance and reinsurance businesses, is spared the loss of its AA+ rating for now. But S&P marked Berkshire’s outlook down to “negative” from stable.” UPDATE: Buffett told Fox Business Network he isn’t surprised about S&P’s move. S&P had telegraphed plans to knock down insurers if the U.S. were downgraded.
For what it’s worth, Buffett hasn’t been saying very nice things about Standard & Poor’s in the past 24 hours. The Oracle of Omaha, a big shareholder in credit firm Moody’s, said S&P’s downgrade of the U.S. “doesn’t make sense.”
MORE ON U.S. LOSING AAA CREDIT RATING
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Wow.
DAY OF RECKONING IS UPON US.
