Post #9090 by mungofitch on the Berkshire Hathaway board

Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ❤

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"GarrettMcAuley: "The Bank of America’s unrealized bond portfolio losses now exceed $100 billion. That’s about the equivalent (on a pretax basis) of half of the company’s tangible common equity. Wow."

I find it interesting that it wasn't JUST locking in low returns for a long time. Remember that in times of distress, there is no such thing as a "held to maturity" asset--everything gets sold that can be sold. If any little financial crisis were to show up, those would not be paper losses. This view of things may be one reason Mr Buffett is getting his hat and heading for the door. A crisis is unlikely (isn't it always?) but it's not worth taking a risk that size.

Jim

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