Berkshire Downgraded by Moody’s

This just in, courtesy of Bloomberg News:

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had its top-level Aaa credit rating cut by Moody’s Investors Service because of the falling value of stock markets and the impact of the recession on profit.

The rating was cut two levels to Aa2 on “the severe decline in equity markets over the past year as well as the protracted economic recession,” Bruce Ballentine, a Moody’s analyst, said in a statement about Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire.

Moody’s joins Fitch Ratings in cutting Berkshire after the firm’s worst year since Buffett took over in 1965. Standard & Poor’s last month said it was putting the firm on watch for a possible downgrade.