tuesday trading, page-71

Warren to the rescue!! ;)

U.S. Stocks Gain as Berkshire Weighs Bond Insurer Investments

By Michael Patterson

Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks gained, erasing an 87- point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it may invest in municipal bond insurers.

Bear Stearns Cos., Merrill Lynch & Co. and American Express Co. led an advance among financial shares in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Hewlett-Packard Co., the biggest personal computer maker, helped push technology shares higher for the first time in seven days. Gilead Sciences Inc. and Pfizer Inc. rallied after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts said earnings at drugmakers will continue to rise even as the economy slows.

The S&P 500 added 6.09, or 0.4 percent, to 1,396.28 as of 3:31 p.m. in New York after falling to the lowest since March yesterday. The Dow average climbed 50.64, or 0.4 percent, to 12,639.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 10.79, or 0.4 percent, to 2,451.3.

Berkshire may invest in bond insurers after launching its own, said Ajit Jain, head of the Berkshire unit in charge of the venture. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company is ``looking at ways to support the existing insurers in terms of reinsurance and capital,'' Jain said today in an interview.

MBIA Inc., the largest bond insurer, slipped 60 cents to $13.38 after falling as low as $11.11 earlier today. Ambac Financial Group Inc. lost $1.24 to $18.32 after declining as low as $15.50. Berkshire Hathaway shares lost 2.2 percent to $130,700.