Warren Buffett buys into Barrick Gold

Article Excerpt

BARRICK GOLD $39.49 (Toronto symbol ABX; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (www.barrick.com; Shares o/s: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $70.3 billion; Yield: 1.1%) now counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (symbol BRK.B on New York) as its 11th largest investor. That’s after Berkshire bought 20.9 million shares of Barrick for $563.5 million U.S. The move is somewhat surprising because Mr. Buffett has said in the past that he doesn’t like investing in gold. That’s primarily because holding the metal in an investment portfolio generates no income. However, the new Barrick stake is made up of common shares that do pay a dividend. While the holding is just a small part of Berkshire Hathaway’s huge $217 billion U.S. asset base, it is a high-profile endorsement of the outlook for gold as well as Barrick. Barrick Gold is a buy. buy…