Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway avoids S&P rating downgrade

Standard & Poor's on Friday left its "AA" credit ratings for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc alone, saying the company's growing diversification and "modest" financial risks meant a downgrade was not necessary. Berkshire had been put on review for a possible downgrade on Aug. 11, on concern about Buffett's decision to deploy a large amount of cash toward last month's $32 billion acquisition of industrial parts maker Precision Castparts Corp. But S&P analyst Laline Carvalho said B