2008年四季度，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司投资收益骤降96%，全年收益下跌62%，净资产缩水115亿美元，净收入大跌62%至49.9亿美元，创1965年以来最糟糕纪录。
在百年一遇的金融风暴面前，即使是独一无二的“股神”，奥哈马的圣人，一样显得力不从心。
在一年一度写给公司的信中，巴菲特亲口向股东承认自己犯了错误，并由此造成了数十亿的损失。
股神，这次真的倒下了？
巴菲特的道歉
有"股神"之称的沃伦-巴菲特每年致伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司股东的信是人们翘首以待、撼动市场的大事。今年，巴菲特除了就残酷的商业形势提出了自己的观点外，还对自己之前的投资失误进行了诚实的道歉：
“在过去的2008年，我在投资上做了一些愚蠢的事情，起码在董事会犯过一次重大投资失误，此外还犯过不少其他投资错误。这些错误决策给公司造成了数十亿美元的损失。”（During 2008 I did some dumb things in investments. I made at least one major mistake of commission and several lesser ones that also hurt. I will tell you more about these later. Furthermore, I made some errors of omission, sucking my thumb when new facts came in that should have caused me to re-examine my thinking and promptly take action.）
巴菲特信中所提的“一次重大投资失误”指的是，在国际油价接近高点时加仓，他下决策投资美国康菲石油公司，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司从2007年持有的1750 万股增至去年年底的8490万股。“我没有想到去年能源价格能如此暴跌，这一投资失误给公司造成数十亿美元的损失。”巴菲特表示。（I told you in an earlier part of this report that last year I made a major mistake of commission (and may be more; this one sticks out). Without urging from Charlie or anyone else, I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current 0-$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong. Even if prices should rise, moreover, the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars.）
而巴菲特承认所犯的“其他投资错误”指的是，“图便宜”，花了2.44亿美元购买当时两家爱尔兰银行的股票，结果到去年年底为止两家银行的股价狂跌了 89%，而且两家公司的股价今年以来还在下滑。但随着全球金融股暴跌，公司财务报表上不得不再减记2700万美元的账面损失。（I made some other already-recognizable errors as well. They were smaller, but unfortunately not that small. During 2008, I spent $244 million for shares of two Irish banks that appeared cheap to me. At yearend we wrote these holdings down to market: $27 million, for an 89% loss. Since then, the two stocks have declined even further. The tennis crowd would call my mistakes “unforced errors.”）
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