The most successful investor in the world, Warren Buffett, has announced his investment firm, MidAmerican (part of Berkshire Hathaway), would increase its financial stake in the Chinese automobile battery producer turned carmaker BYD Corp, sending the stock rallying up today.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said today, “MidAmerican has always intended to raise its stake in BYD because it believes BYD has good prospects in the development of renewable energy,”

The exact stake increase is currently unclear.

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has just reported the worst earnings in its entire 44-year history [2008 Annual Report PDF]. In 2008, the net worth of the company declined by $11.5 billion, taking its per-share book value down by 9.6% (includes unrealized gains and losses) It is only the second ever reported loss by Berkshire, the last being in 2001 when its value fell by 6.2% Read the full story

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has just purchased $125 million of eight-year bond notes and an additional $125 million in ten-year bond notes from luxury jewelry maker Tiffany & CO., meaning Berkshire Hathaway has effectively taken on $250 million of debt from the company. Both bonds are structured to yield Berkshire 10% According to Merrill Lynch, the average U.S. bond yielded 7.37% in 2008/ Tiffany & Co. says the new proceeds will be used to fund continuing operations and to refinance current debt.

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Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, has announced a staggering 77% drop in Q3 earnings to $1.06 billion, as a result to a $1.05 billion investment loss, and declining insurance profits because of the financial crisis. The value of the company declined so much because Berkshire Hathaway’s derivative positions including options and futures, which are tied to the overall markets, declined the most. I think it will get worse before it gets better, and Warran Buffett also thinks the financial crisis will get better, too. That is why Warren Buffett says his company will not sell their derivative positions and he believes they will eventually become profitable, which will take years from now. The results do not take into account the $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs and a $3 billion stake in General Electric. Aggregately, Berkshire’s net-worth is now at $120.15 billion, down from $120.73 billion YoY.