Just days after the fifth anniversary of George W. Bush's landing on an aircraft carrier in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner, the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) have finally been located. But not in Iraq or Iran or Syria.
These WMDs are of the financial variety. The ones against which Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (NYSE: BRK.A) CEO Warren Buffett railed in his 2003 annual report. There he called derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal." And Reuters reports that these are the very financial WMDs that cost Berkshire $1.7 billion in charges in the first quarter of 2008.
This proves that George W. Bush was right and so was Warren Buffett. But Berkshire shareholders are also smarting due to a 64% drop in its net income and a 24% tumble in its revenues.
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