Buffett Watch: Holdings Getting Hammered

The following blog comments originally appeared in a different form on RealMoney and RealMoney Silver on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.

The Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A Quote) investment debacle continues apace.

Berkshire lost another $500 million in American Express (AXP Quote) and Wells Fargo (WFC Quote) in the first 15 minutes of trading today, and this came on the heels of losing nearly $350 million in the two names around the lunch hour yesterday.

Moreover, the mark on Berkshire's $30 billion-plus derivative short put trade on the S&P 500 probably now exceeds $10 billion.

A billion here a billion there, and soon it's real money!

Finally, it is interesting to note that normally non-volatile stocks, such as Kraft (KFT Quote) and Constellation Energy Group (CEG Quote) are under pressure today.

The reason might be that they are large Berkshire Hathaway holdings and short sellers could be smelling blood.

Doug Kass writes daily for RealMoney Silver, a premium bundle service from TheStreet.com. For a free trial to RealMoney Silver and exclusive access to Mr. Kass's daily trading diary, please click here.

---

Know What You Own: Berkshire Hathaway also has a sizable stake in General Electric (GE Quote). For more on the value of knowing what you own, visit TheStreet.com's Investing A-to-Z section.

When will the downturn end? How can you profit now? Find out at The Traders Expo, a "must-attend" event featuring, among others, TheStreet.com's Helene Meisler of Top Stocks, Jud Pyle of Options Alerts and James Altucher of RealMoney. FREE to TheStreet.com members, The Traders Expo will be in New York City, Feb. 21-24. Register here with priority code 013526.