Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett, has reported a quarterly operating profit rise of 67%, as insurance underwriting rebounded and several business units benefited from a growing economy.

Stocks on Wall Street rose for the third day in a row today, led by banks, retailers and technology companies.

Ryanair has reported record traffic levels for July, becoming the first European airline to carry over 12m customers in a single month.

The title of novelist Edna O’Brien’s 1965 book, August Is A Wicked Month, may carry more than a little relevance for nervous investors around the world this year.

Major airline groups including Aer Lingus owner IAG have reported strong earnings for the first half of the year, boosting faith in a sector which is finally taking off for investors.

This year is set to be a major one for Apple due to a variety of reasons, most notably being the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.

Kraft Heinz has made a $143bn (€134.5bn) offer for Unilever in what would be the largest-ever takeover in the food or beverage industry, opening a campaign to create a consumer-goods giant with household names from Dove soap to Heinz ketchup.

Some predicted a win for Trump would spook the markets but Tom Metcalf and Jack Witzig found the prospect of a businessman in the White House just helped the rich grow richer.

US telecommunications rivals Verizon and AT&T are set to go through to the third and final round of bidding in the auction for Yahoo’s core internet assets.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has disclosed a stake in Apple, betting that the technology company will rebound after a slump driven by a slowdown in iPhone sales.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today

Billionaire Warren Buffett said on Saturday that Berkshire Hathaway is poised to do well no matter who wins the White House in November, and the billionaire investor defended the performance and tactics of the conglomerate’s several large investments.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife’s pledge to give away virtually all of their $45bn (€42.5bn) in Facebook shares, has set a new philanthropic benchmark by committing their massive fortune to charitable causes while still in their early 30s.

 

Changes to VHI’s corporate structure will have no impact on customers or its policies or health cover, said Leo Varadkar, the health minister, yesterday.

 

Ironic as it may sound, it seems that Entourage actually has Sex and the City to thank for its move to the silver screen, writes Tom Teodorczuk

Shares in Guinness maker Diageo built up a head today as investors responded to reports that Brazil’s richest man was preparing a bid for the British drinks maker.

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday celebrated Warren Buffett’s 50th anniversary running the conglomerate, as the billionaire expressed optimism the company would thrive over the long haul, even after he is gone.

With a merger of Kraft and Heinz expected soon, entrepreneur-led food firms are wide-eyed with optimism for the future, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

The richest people got richer in 2014, adding $92bn (€75.6bn) to their collective fortune in the face of falling energy prices and the geopolitical turmoil incited by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Duracell, the maker of gold and black batteries made famous by its bunny adverts, has been snapped up by billionaire US investor Warren Buffett.

Warren Buffett may be most famous for the billions of dollars he has made from investing but he is also well known as a cheerleader for the United States.

American billionaire Warren Buffett has denied Burger King relocating its headquarters to Canada as part of its takeover of coffee chain Tim Hortons is motivated by lower taxes.

The US stock market staged a late rally yesterday, helping push the Dow Jones industrial average higher for the first time in a week.

VHI chief executive John O’Dwyer said that an extension of a reinsurance deal with the VHI for a further four years by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was "a real vote of confidence" in the insurer.

Health insurer VHI made a 2013 profit after tax of €65m compared to a profit of €54.3m for the previous year.

Better results from retailers and demand for telecommunications shares market helped push the stock market to a small gain yesterday.

Pre-tax profits at the main Irish arm of US food giant Heinz last year fell 22% to £11.4m (€13.5m).

The phased transfer of the Warren Buffett-owned Fruit of the Loom Irish operation to its lower cost Morocco base has not ended the firm’s problems.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is still America’s richest man, taking the top spot in the Forbes 400 list for the 20th-straight year with a net worth of US $72bn (€54bn).

At first blush, Warren Buffett’s decision to invest nearly $1bn of his investors’ money in the VHI would go a long way to explaining his waning powers of Midas, as regards his Berkshire Hathaway investment vehicle.

Bill Gates is once again the world’s richest person.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invests in dozens of businesses, and a new book tries to explain it all to young readers, from A to Z.

The global food giant Heinz, which famously makes beans and tomato sauce, has been bought for $23bn (€17.2bn) by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Jorge Paulo Lemann’s 3G Capital

Food giant Heinz says it has agreed to be acquired by an investment consortium including billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a deal valued at $28bn.

A foul-smelling cloud of gas which wafted over to parts of the South East of England from a chemical factory in France has prompted dozens of calls to emergency services.

Pre-tax profits at the main Irish arm of medical technology firm Becton Dickinson last year almost halved to €54m in spite of the company increasing revenues to €1.07bn.

Warren Buffett told shareholders in an open letter he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer.

Tesco needs to invest up to £1bn (€1.2bn) to turn around its flagging British business, a process that may take up to three years, according to its fourth-largest shareholder.

Berkshire Hathaway is eliminating the news conference Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger traditionally held as part of the festivities around the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

Carlos Slim, the telecommunications tycoon who controls Mexico’s America Movil, is the richest person on Earth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a brand-new daily ranking of the world’s 20 wealthiest individuals.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has increased its holding in Tesco to 5.08% of its shares from 3.21%.