Kraft Foods Inc., the maker of Oreo cookies, raised $9.5 billion yesterday for its takeover of Cadbury Plc, while Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold $8 billion of notes for its buyout of railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. that he called an “all-in wager” on the U.S. economy.
About 70 percent of debt issued this year by non-financial companies is financing mergers and acquisitions or related business investments, the most of any five-week period since 1998, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Companies boosted inventories last - - - - >

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company Buffett has led as chairman for more than four decades, advanced 2.7 percent on the New York Stock Exchange in 2009, less than the 23 percent return in the Standard & Poors 500 Index. It was Berkshires worst showing since falling 20 percent in 1999, compared with a 20 percent gain in the index. Berkshire beat the index in 15 of the last 22 years.
Buffett, whose acquisitions and stock picks propelled Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshires 30-fold increase in 20 years, is finding - - - - >

Berkshire and its subsidiaries have about 225,000 workers, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said this week in regulatory filings. Thats 8.6 percent lower than the 246,083 disclosed in the 2008 annual report. Berkshire provided the jobs information in a document tied to its planned $26 billion takeover of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Buffett didnt reply to a request, left with an assistant, for comment on the cuts.
Buffett, Berkshires chief executive officer, oversees a collection of more than 70 subsidiaries that sell products including Geico car - - - - >

Berkshire sold 87,992 shares on Dec. 18 for $26.77 apiece and remains Moodys biggest shareholder, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshires stake is down about 34 percent from the 48 million shares it owned at the end of June.
Buffett buys stocks that he says have lasting competitive advantages and superior management. His stake in the rating firm, whose founder John Moody created credit grades a century ago, dates from 2000 and had a value of more than $3.5 billion at its high in - - - - >

“I think the West is going to do well,” Buffett told workers of Burlington Northern during an in-house interview with the railroads chief executive officer, Matthew Rose. “Id rather be in the West than the East.”
The $26 billion purchase of Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington Northern is the biggest of Buffetts career, and what he called an “all-in wager” on the U.S. economy. Burlington stands to benefit from an increase in shipments of goods from the U.S.s Asian trading partners, including China.
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The acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nations second-largest railroad, would be the biggest ever for Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway investment company.
Its a natural fit for the Oracle of Omaha, a city with a special place in railroad history. It was the starting point for the westward push of the transcontinental railroad. Today, Omaha is the headquarters of Union Pacific, and BNSF trains rumble through every day.
In a statement, Buffett, whose investing decisions are carefully scrutinized by the world of finance, voiced confidence in the railroad industry.
“Most important of all, however, its an all-in wager on the economic future - - - - >

Berkshire ended the second quarter with 1.2 million shares of Becton, which has operations in about 50 countries, and increased its holdings of Johnson & Johnson, the worlds largest maker of health-care products, by 14 percent to 36.9 million shares. Buffetts Omaha, Nebraska-based firm disclosed its holdings in a regulatory filing Aug. 14.
Berkshires investments in the two firms comes as countries including China increase spending on public health, and the U.S. Congress debates changes in the health-care system that may provide coverage to more Americans. Buffett, - - - - >

Berkshire had 1.2 million shares of the Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based medical supplies company at the end of the second quarter, Berkshire said yesterday in a regulatory filing listing U.S. stock holdings as of June 30. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire also increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson, the worlds largest maker of health-care products, by 14 percent to 36.9 million shares.
“Becton Dickinson is an old-line company, a leader in its chosen field, and it has predictable cash flows and future earnings,” said Frank Betz, a partner - - - - >

Berkshire held about $11.1 billion in foreign government bonds in its insurance units as of June 30, compared with $9.6 billion three months earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing Aug. 7 announcing second-quarter results. Buffett, 78, spent $2.6 billion in fixed-maturity securities in the three months ended June 30 compared with $350 million on stocks.
Buffett is increasing fixed-income investments after results slumped at operating units including NetJets Inc., the money-losing plane-rental business, and companies in Berkshires equity portfolio including Wells Fargo & Co. slashed - - - - >

Berkshire held about $11.1 billion in foreign government bonds in its insurance units as of June 30, compared with $9.6 billion three months earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing Aug. 7 announcing second-quarter results. Buffett, 78, spent $2.6 billion in fixed-maturity securities in the three months ended June 30 compared with $350 million on stocks.
Buffett is increasing fixed-income investments after results slumped at operating units including NetJets Inc., the money-losing plane-rental business, and companies in Berkshires equity portfolio including Wells Fargo & Co. slashed - - - - >