The New York Times - USA (2020-08-09)

24 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020

Highlight: New York’s Weather in July

Temperature Central Park 7th warmest

Precipitation (in inches)

Total
6.58 in.
Normal
4.60 in.
DAY: 1 5 10 15 20 25 30

1.0

2.0

RECORD Precipitation: 2.54 in.

90°

80°

70°

60°

Record highs

Actual mean 80.0° Normal mean 76.5°

Record lows

Normal Range

90°

80°

70°

60°

Record highs

Normal highs

Normal lows

Record lows

TWT F S SMTWT

TODAY

High High

Actual

Forecast range

Low Low

Color bands indicate water 80s 8 temperature.

70 s

6 0s

50s 505 s

84/72 Mostly sunny

Virginia Beach

80/70 Increasing clouds

Ocean City Md.

88/72 Clouds and sun

Eastern Shore

82/73 Clouds and sun

N.J. Shore

80/72 Partly sunny

L.I. South Shore

85/71 Humid with some sun

L.I. North Shore

83/69 Mostly sunny

Cape Cod

80/65 Morning fog, then sun

Kennebunkport

Today’s forecast

HHH

H

HHH

H

L

70s70s0s0s

80s80s

60s

50s

40s 4 40s 40

10 100++

100 +

100+ 100 ++

100+00+00+

100+ 10010000

90 s

90s0s 90s

90s90s 90s90s90s0sss

90s 99 0s 0

90s90s90s 0

90 s

90s

80s

80 0s0s 0

8 80s 8 ss

80 s

80s 0

80 s

80s 8

80s 800

70s 7

70s

70 s 70s

7 0s

60s0s^60 s^6 0s 70s70s

Pierre

BiBismarckBis Fargo

MinneapolisM St. PaulS

ChicagC gog

Milwaukeee

Indianapolisa

Detroit

ClevelandPittsburghghh

WashingtonWashishi

PhilPladelphia

New YorkN

Richmchmond NorfolkNNN RaleighRaRagh CCharlotteC

Columbbia Atlanta

JacksonvilleJ

OrlandoOr Tampaa

Miami Nassau

BirminghamB m

MobileMo NewNew Orleans

Jackson

Baton Rougeo

Little Rock Memphisem

Nashvilleshvillhvil

LouisvilleLouisvilleLouisville

CharlestonChChCC tonon

CaCasperCa SiouSiououx Fallsouxux Fallsu

Cheyennee

Denver

CColoradoCo SSpringsS

Winnipegeg

RReginaR

Billings

Helena

BoiseB

Spokane

Vancouvverv

Seatattleatt

Reno

SaSaan aFranciscoFrancraniscoiscocoo FresnoFresnoFresno

LoLos As As AAngelesAn

Sannn Dn DieDegeego

Honoluluoluulu

HiloHHH

FFairbirbanksirb

AnAncchoragech Juneauau

PhoenixPhenixenix

TucsonTu

LasLasLas Vegas

Salt LakeSalt Lakealt Lakeeee CitCitity

AlbuquerquAlbuquerqueAlbuquerqu

Santa Feee

Lubbock

El Paso Ft. Wortht. Wot. Wor Dallas

Oklahoma City

San Antonio Hououston

Corpus ChristiC Monterreyy

Eugenneee

Portlanandndnd

Albany Buffalo HartfordHart

ToToronto

OttaOttattawa

Montrentretreal

Quebecc

Burlingtonngtgtn ManchesterMaM BostonBos

PortlandPor

HalifaxH

Desess Moines Omaha

Topeka

Wichita

Kansas City St. LouisSS s

Springfielde

60°

70°

80°

90°

100°

4 p.m.

12 a.m.

6 a.m.

12 p.m.

4 p.m.

Record high 99° (2001)

Normal high 84°

Normal low 69°

Record low 54° (1903)

FRI. YESTERDAY

68° 6 a.m.

81° 2 p.m.

Metropolitan Almanac In Central Park for the 16 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday.

Temperature

this month............. +1.2°

Avg. daily departure from normal ................ +2.5°

Avg. daily departure from normal this year

Reservoir levels (New York City water supply) Yesterday............... 86% Est. normal............. 89%

Precipitation (in inches) Yesterday............... 0.00 Record.................... 2.60 For the last 30 days Actual..................... 7.41 Normal.................... 4.71 For the last 365 days Actual................... 42.46 Normal.................. 49.91 LAST 30 DAYS Air pressure Humidity

Cooling Degree Days

Trends

High........... 30.19 8 a.m. Low............ 30.15 5 a.m.

High............. 96% 6 a.m. Low............ 78% 11 a.m.

An index of fuel consumption that tracks how far the day’s mean temperature rose above 65

Chart shows how recent temperature and precipitation trends compare with those of the last 30 years.

Yesterday................................................................... 10 So far this month...................................................... 103 So far this season (since January 1)........................ 890 Normal to date for the season................................. 728

Last 10 days 30 days 90 days 365 days

Temperature Average Below Above

Precipitation Average Below Above

HL

TODAY’S HIGHS

FRONTS PRESSURE

COLD HIGH LOW MOSTLY SHOWERST-STORMS RAIN FLURRIES SNOW ICE CLOUDY

WARM STATIONARY COMPLEX COLD PRECIPITATION

<0 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+

Weather patterns shown as expected at noon today, Eastern time.

Cities
High/low temperatures for the 16 hours ended at 4
p.m. yesterday, Eastern time, and precipitation (in inches)
for the 16 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Expected conditions for today and tomorrow.

C ........................ Clouds
F ............................. Fog
H .......................... Haze
I............................... Ice
PC ............. Partly cloudy
R ........................... Rain
Sh ................... Showers

S .............................Sun Sn ....................... Snow SS .......... Snow showers T ............ Thunderstorms Tr ......................... Trace W ........................ Windy

............... Not available Recreational Forecast

Sun, Moon and Planets

We a t h e r R e p o r t Meteorology by AccuWeather

Sun

Jupiter

Saturn

Moon

Mars

Venus

National Forecast

Boating

Last Quarter New First Quarter Full

Aug. 11 Aug. 18 Aug. 25 Sep. 2

Beach and Ocean Temperatures

10:41 p.m. 1:22 a.m. RISE 6:01 a.m. SET 8:02 p.m. NEXT R 6:02 a.m. S 3:47 a.m. R 6:27 p.m. S 4:28 a.m. R 6:55 p.m.

S 11:40 a.m. R 11:14 p.m. S 12:38 p.m. S 11:28 a.m. R 10:49 p.m. R 2:33 a.m. S 5:06 p.m.

United States Yesterday Today Tomorrow

N.Y.C. region Yesterday Today Tomorrow
87/ 73 PC 90/ 74 PC
Bridgeport 79/ 70 0 84/ 72 PC 87/ 73 S
Caldwell 82/ 68 0 89/ 72 PC 92/ 71 S
Danbury 79/ 63 0 84/ 67 PC 88/ 68 PC
Islip 78/ 70 Tr 82/ 71 PC 85/ 72 S
Newark 80/ 69 Tr 87/ 72 PC 90/ 74 PC
Trenton 78/ 67 Tr 87/ 71 PC 90/ 71 PC
White Plains 77/ 66 0 84/ 69 PC 87/ 70 PC

Albany 81/ 64 0.23 84/ 66 PC 88/ 68 T
Albuquerque 94/ 68 0 93/ 67 T 100/ 67 PC
Anchorage 65/ 54 0 65/ 56 C 65/ 54 R
Atlanta 95/ 75 0 93/ 75 T 92/ 72 T
Atlantic City 80/ 72 Tr 82/ 73 PC 82/ 75 S
Austin 97/ 73 0 98/ 73 PC 99/ 76 S
Baltimore 87/ 70 0 90/ 72 PC 91/ 72 T
Baton Rouge 95/ 74 0 93/ 74 T 92/ 75 T
Birmingham 92/ 73 0 93/ 75 T 90/ 73 T
Boise 89/ 59 0 88/ 56 S 90/ 61 S
Boston 75/ 67 0 85/ 70 S 87/ 73 PC
Buffalo 83/ 63 0 84/ 71 PC 89/ 73 PC
Burlington 86/ 66 0 84/ 68 Sh 89/ 72 PC
Casper 92/ 52 0 88/ 52 S 89/ 51 S
Charlotte 90/ 68 0 92/ 69 T 92/ 70 T
Chattanooga 95/ 71 0 95/ 74 PC 93/ 73 T
Chicago 90/ 73 0 91/ 75 PC 91/ 68 T
Cincinnati 85/ 62 0 88/ 69 PC 88/ 71 T
Cleveland 80/ 60 0 87/ 67 PC 90/ 71 T
Colorado Springs 92/ 62 0 93/ 63 PC 87/ 59 T
Columbus 86/ 63 0 89/ 68 PC 90/ 70 T
Concord, N.H. 84/ 58 Tr 87/ 62 PC 92/ 63 PC
Dallas-Ft. Worth 98/ 79 0 97/ 79 S 98/ 79 S
Denver 96/ 63 0 97/ 59 PC 87/ 59 PC
Des Moines 88/ 73 0 92/ 74 PC 84/ 62 T
Detroit 83/ 66 0 89/ 71 PC 87/ 72 T
El Paso 102/ 73 0 102/ 74 PC 102/ 76 T
Fargo 82/ 66 0 82/ 53 T 80/ 59 S
Hartford 88/ 66 0 89/ 69 PC 94/ 70 S
Honolulu 88/ 78 0.01 88/ 76 PC 88/ 76 Sh
Houston 95/ 77 0 93/ 76 PC 96/ 76 S
Indianapolis 85/ 65 0 87/ 69 T 87/ 71 T
Jackson 97/ 72 0 95/ 73 S 94/ 75 T
Jacksonville 92/ 72 0 93/ 74 PC 94/ 73 T
Kansas City 90/ 74 0.07 92/ 75 S 89/ 69 T
Key West 93/ 84 0 91/ 84 T 90/ 83 T
Las Vegas 104/ 77 0 105/ 78 S 106/ 78 S
Lexington 86/ 61 0 88/ 67 PC 88/ 67 T

Little Rock 94/ 75 0 95/ 76 S 96/ 75 PC Los Angeles 82/ 62 0 82/ 61 S 82/ 59 S Louisville 88/ 67 0 90/ 73 PC 91/ 74 T Memphis 95/ 76 0 96/ 77 C 96/ 77 PC Miami 93/ 81 0.02 92/ 80 PC 91/ 78 PC Milwaukee 85/ 71 0 88/ 72 PC 88/ 66 T Mpls.-St. Paul 86/ 73 0 87/ 66 T 80/ 61 S Nashville 93/ 69 0 95/ 73 PC 92/ 74 T New Orleans 91/ 76 0 93/ 79 PC 93/ 78 PC Norfolk 87/ 73 0.05 87/ 73 S 88/ 75 T Oklahoma City 94/ 75 0 95/ 76 S 95/ 75 PC Omaha 91/ 75 0 97/ 72 PC 82/ 66 T Orlando 93/ 77 0 93/ 77 T 92/ 75 T Philadelphia 85/ 71 Tr 88/ 74 PC 91/ 74 PC Phoenix 111/ 86 0 112/ 85 S 111/ 85 S Pittsburgh 84/ 60 0 87/ 65 PC 90/ 66 PC Portland, Me. 81/ 62 0 84/ 65 S 84/ 65 S Portland, Ore. 78/ 55 0 84/ 59 S 90/ 56 S Providence 85/ 67 0 87/ 70 PC 88/ 71 PC Raleigh 87/ 71 0.01 90/ 71 T 92/ 72 T Reno 95/ 63 0 97/ 65 S 94/ 65 C Richmond 87/ 71 0 90/ 72 PC 91/ 72 S Rochester 82/ 60 Tr 85/ 68 PC 90/ 71 S Sacramento 96/ 63 0 99/ 63 S 94/ 61 S Salt Lake City 95/ 68 0 95/ 69 S 94/ 70 S San Antonio 98/ 78 0 98/ 79 S 100/ 78 S San Diego 74/ 65 0 75/ 64 PC 76/ 64 PC San Francisco 75/ 58 0 76/ 59 PC 75/ 58 PC San Jose 85/ 63 0 86/ 64 S 84/ 60 S San Juan 90/ 79 0.02 90/ 79 T 89/ 79 PC Seattle 71/ 55 0.01 77/ 57 PC 82/ 56 S Sioux Falls 89/ 72 0 93/ 65 PC 79/ 58 C Spokane 80/ 53 Tr 81/ 55 S 88/ 59 S St. Louis 89/ 74 0 92/ 78 T 94/ 75 T St. Thomas 91/ 81 0.02 90/ 80 PC 89/ 80 PC Syracuse 83/ 62 0 85/ 68 PC 91/ 71 S Tampa 92/ 79 0 93/ 80 T 92/ 79 T Toledo 85/ 64 0 90/ 68 PC 88/ 71 T Tucson 105/ 79 0 108/ 79 S 110/ 77 T Tulsa 97/ 76 0 97/ 78 S 97/ 72 PC Virginia Beach 83/ 72 0.24 84/ 72 S 85/ 73 T Washington 87/ 74 0 90/ 75 PC 91/ 75 PC Wichita 98/ 76 0 99/ 75 W 95/ 69 T Wilmington, Del. 82/ 68 0 88/ 72 PC 89/ 71 T Africa Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Asia/Pacific Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Algiers 92/ 61 0 95/ 66 PC 97/ 69 PC Cairo 100/ 79 0 96/ 78 S 95/ 77 S Cape Town 70/ 39 0.02 62/ 49 R 65/ 48 PC Dakar 87/ 79 0 88/ 79 PC 87/ 79 T Johannesburg 63/ 37 0 69/ 39 S 68/ 39 S Nairobi 75/ 55 0 75/ 52 PC 78/ 53 PC Tunis 90/ 72 0 94/ 72 S 91/ 72 S

Baghdad 113/ 86 0 112/ 82 W 108/ 81 PC Bangkok 93/ 77 0.36 91/ 81 T 90/ 78 T Beijing 89/ 71 0 93/ 71 C 93/ 71 T Damascus 102/ 68 0 95/ 65 PC 93/ 63 PC Hong Kong 92/ 84 0.01 92/ 83 PC 92/ 82 T Jakarta 90/ 77 0.25 91/ 76 T 92/ 77 T Jerusalem 85/ 70 0 82/ 68 S 82/ 67 S Karachi 89/ 82 0.50 92/ 83 PC 93/ 83 T Manila 84/ 77 0.83 86/ 79 T 90/ 80 T Mumbai 88/ 81 0.82 86/ 79 Sh 84/ 79 T

South America Yesterday Today Tomorrow

North America Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Europe Yesterday Today Tomorrow

New Delhi 99/ 82 0.05 94/ 80 T 92/ 81 T Riyadh 108/ 81 0 109/ 83 PC 110/ 83 PC Seoul 81/ 70 0.34 80/ 75 R 83/ 76 T Shanghai 93/ 80 0.53 95/ 83 T 95/ 82 T Singapore 91/ 82 0 89/ 79 Sh 88/ 80 PC Sydney 62/ 50 0.13 61/ 53 R 60/ 52 W Taipei City 93/ 82 0.05 97/ 80 C 96/ 82 T Tehran 95/ 70 0 94/ 76 PC 99/ 79 PC Tokyo 88/ 77 0 91/ 80 PC 92/ 82 PC

Amsterdam 91/ 64 0 90/ 68 PC 89/ 69 PC Athens 86/ 66 0.25 89/ 78 S 90/ 74 S Berlin 95/ 66 0 94/ 69 PC 90/ 67 PC Brussels 95/ 64 0 94/ 70 PC 94/ 71 PC Budapest 92/ 68 0.02 89/ 68 S 90/ 67 T Copenhagen 84/ 63 0 79/ 63 T 78/ 61 PC Dublin 66/ 46 0 65/ 56 PC 65/ 57 T Edinburgh 68/ 50 0 63/ 53 PC 65/ 56 T Frankfurt 97/ 70 0 97/ 73 PC 96/ 71 T Geneva 90/ 61 0 88/ 66 PC 87/ 66 T Helsinki 82/ 55 0 79/ 55 PC 73/ 51 PC Istanbul 86/ 77 0 86/ 73 PC 86/ 73 PC Kiev 82/ 66 0 82/ 61 PC 80/ 61 PC Lisbon 84/ 64 0 80/ 64 S 78/ 64 PC London 91/ 69 0 92/ 67 PC 92/ 68 PC Madrid 99/ 73 0 102/ 72 PC 96/ 70 S Moscow 75/ 57 0.01 75/ 57 Sh 76/ 59 PC Nice 84/ 76 0 87/ 75 S 86/ 75 PC Oslo 79/ 55 0 74/ 57 PC 73/ 56 T Paris 100/ 68 0 99/ 70 PC 97/ 72 PC Prague 88/ 63 0 88/ 63 PC 86/ 64 T Rome 95/ 73 0 90/ 69 S 87/ 69 S St. Petersburg 76/ 59 0 77/ 61 S 73/ 56 PC Stockholm 82/ 59 0 75/ 51 T 73/ 49 PC Vienna 91/ 63 0 90/ 66 PC 89/ 66 T Warsaw 88/ 68 0 87/ 64 T 86/ 62 T

Acapulco 82/ 77 0.35 88/ 79 T 90/ 79 T Bermuda 86/ 79 0.06 86/ 79 PC 86/ 79 T Edmonton 63/ 43 0 68/ 46 W 71/ 44 PC Guadalajara 75/ 62 0.05 77/ 61 T 81/ 61 T Havana 90/ 75 0 91/ 75 T 90/ 74 T Kingston 95/ 81 0 93/ 78 T 92/ 79 PC Martinique 90/ 82 0 91/ 78 Sh 91/ 78 PC Mexico City 67/ 57 0 68/ 56 T 72/ 56 T Monterrey 85/ 73 0 92/ 70 PC 93/ 69 S Montreal 79/ 61 0 79/ 68 Sh 85/ 70 C Nassau 88/ 79 0.13 88/ 77 PC 89/ 77 S Panama City 90/ 75 0 87/ 76 T 87/ 76 T Quebec City 77/ 55 0 77/ 61 C 82/ 67 PC Santo Domingo 90/ 77 0 91/ 76 T 90/ 74 PC Toronto 80/ 63 0 85/ 67 T 89/ 71 S Vancouver 63/ 59 0.05 72/ 56 S 72/ 56 PC Winnipeg 77/ 57 0.01 78/ 53 PC 78/ 55 W

Buenos Aires 59/ 54 0.04 65/ 58 C 64/ 42 PC Caracas 88/ 73 0.05 88/ 76 Sh 87/ 75 T Lima 63/ 58 0 65/ 58 PC 65/ 58 PC Quito 69/ 43 0 74/ 47 PC 74/ 48 PC Recife 84/ 73 0.02 83/ 73 C 82/ 72 PC Rio de Janeiro 75/ 66 0 77/ 67 S 81/ 68 S Santiago 64/ 41 0 66/ 38 PC 64/ 35 S

From Montauk Point to Sandy Hook, N.J., out to 20 nautical miles, including Long Island Sound and New York Harbor. Wind will be from the southwest at around 5 knots. Waves will be 1 foot or less on New York Harbor and Long Island Sound and around 2 feet on the ocean. Visibility reduced in areas of morning fog.

Atlantic City .................. 12:10 p.m. ......................... --- Barnegat Inlet ............... 12:01 a.m. ............ 12:34 p.m. The Battery ................... 12:46 a.m. .............. 1:19 p.m. Beach Haven .................. 1:31 a.m. .............. 2:01 p.m. Bridgeport ...................... 3:42 a.m. .............. 4:03 p.m. City Island ....................... 3:36 a.m. .............. 3:51 p.m. Fire Island Lt. ................ 12:59 a.m. .............. 1:29 p.m. Montauk Point ................ 1:29 a.m. .............. 2:01 p.m. Northport ....................... 3:40 a.m. .............. 4:04 p.m. Port Washington ............. 3:24 a.m. .............. 3:48 p.m. Sandy Hook .................. 12:13 a.m. ............ 12:43 p.m. Shinnecock Inlet ........... 12:20 p.m. ......................... --- Stamford ........................ 3:39 a.m. .............. 4:02 p.m. Tarrytown ....................... 2:35 a.m. .............. 3:08 p.m. Willets Point .................... 3:36 a.m. .............. 3:49 p.m.

High Tides

New York City 81/ 68 0

Metropolitan Forecast

TODAY ...................Partly sunny and humid High 87. High pressure over the North- east will bring dry weather with a partly sunny sky. It is expected to be warmer than yesterday.

TONIGHT ................Mainly clear and humid Low 73. The humidity will keep the area feeling warmer than normal under a mainly clear sky. High pressure will keep it dry.

TOMORROW ...........Partly sunny and humid High 90. High pressure will begin to shift to the east over the Atlantic Ocean, but it will remain dry under a partly sunny sky. The humidity and above-normal temperatures will make it feel very hot.

TUESDAY .............................Thunderstorms A cold front will approach from the west in the afternoon, but showers and thunderstorms are expected to hold off. It will be another humid day with sunshine and some clouds.

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY ...............Strong thunderstorms Intervals of clouds and sunshine Wednes- day, with showers or thunderstorms; some strong. High 88. Remaining humid Thursday, with some sunshine and showers or thunderstorms. High 86.

Dry and sunny weather will finally return to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic today, allowing locations hardest hit by Isaias to start to dry out. Thunderstorms will develop in the Southeast, mainly close to the coast. The Midwest is in for a round of severe thunderstorms. Storms that will be able to produce damaging wind gusts, hail, flooding rain and intense lightning will occur in the eastern Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Iowa. These severe storms will develop across the area from the afternoon through the overnight. Farther south, a few afternoon thunderstorms will develop in the southern Rock- ies. Much of the West will remain dry, with plenty of sunshine. Temperatures will tick upward into unseasonably warm territory across the Desert Southwest.

It will be dry today along the coast, with the exception of stray afternoon thunderstorms over the Carolinas. Aside from some patchy morning fog in the north, there will be a mixture of clouds and sunshine overhead this afternoon. It will be humid and warm for most. Highs will be mainly in the 80s.

The strong recovery in the
stock market — and a surge in the
value of Apple’s stock, in particu-
lar — drove a rebound in profits
for Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire
Hathaway in the second quarter.
Berkshire on Saturday said it
earned $26.4 billion in the second
quarter, a turnaround from a $49.7
billion loss in the first quarter,
when a plunge in the stock mar-
ket, prompted by the coronavirus
outbreak, caused huge paper
losses in Mr. Buffett’s giant stock
portfolio. In the second quarter of
last year, Berkshire earned $14.2
billion.
The weak economy, caused by
the pandemic and business inter-
ruptions, weighed on many of the
companies that the conglomerate
owns. Berkshire warned that the
pandemic could lead to changes in
the economy that could hurt its
operations. “We cannot reliably
predict when business activities
at our numerous and diverse op-
erations will normalize. Nor can
we predict how these events will

alter the future consumption patterns of consumers and businesses we serve,” it said in its second-quarter filing. Aside from its stock holdings in companies like Apple and Bank of America, Berkshire owns outright a wide array of large businesses — in the insurance, railway, energy, retail and manufacturing sectors — that provide a snapshot of the health of the American economy. In the quarter, Berkshire reported a $26.7 billion increase in the value of its stock holdings, powered by a $27.7 billion surge in the value of the company’s investment in Apple’s stock, whose price has soared this year even as the global economy sputtered badly. Berkshire’s stock gains don’t become cash profits until the company sells an investment, which was typically an uncommon oc- currence. But in the second quarter, it sold its stakes in airline companies as Mr. Buffett soured on their prospects in the virus-af- flicted economy. Overall, Berk- shire sold $13.6 billion of equity se-

curities in the second quarter, a jump from $2.1 billion in the first quarter. Though Mr. Buffett has a long record as a savvy investor, Berk- shire’s stock has performed worse than the broader stock market this year, falling 7.4 percent, ver- sus a 3.7 percent increase for the S&P 500 stock index. In a sign that Mr. Buffett might believe Berkshire’s shares are un- dervalued, the company spent $6.7 billion buying back its own stock in the second quarter, a record amount, and up from $1.7 billion in the first quarter. During and after the 2008 finan- cial crisis, Berkshire made big in- vestments and acquisitions that ended up producing big returns. But the company has so far only announced one large acquisition during the coronavirus crisis — a $4 billion deal to buy natural gas pipeline assets that was agreed to last month. Berkshire said on Sat- urday that it expected the deal to close in the fourth quarter. Berkshire’s holdings of cash

and short-term Treasury bills — money it can, in theory, use to make big acquisitions in the future — rose to $146.6 billion in the second quarter from $137.2 billion

in the first quarter. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Berkshire’s large North American railway operation, reported a fall in revenue in the second quarter

as the pandemic contributed to a decline in volume of goods it transports. Berkshire’s manufacturing and retail businesses were also hit by the disruptions to the economy. The company also took a roughly $10 billion write-down on intangible assets related to Precision Castparts Corporation, a metal components manufactur- er that it bought in 2016 for $32.7 billion. Berkshire’s giant energy business reported a decline in pretax earnings in the second quarter but net profits were up because of a large tax benefit. The company’s insurance operations showed the mixed effects of the pandemic. Berkshire said its Geico unit received fewer claims because its customers were driv- ing less frequently during the pandemic. But the company said it expected claims to increase as driv- ing picks up, and added that a pro- gram that gives renewing customers a 15 percent premium credit would weigh on future fi- nancial results.

Berkshire Hathaway Rebounds With Profits After a First Quarter Loss

By PETER EAVIS

Warren Buffett in 2019. The weak economy weighed on many of the companies that his conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, owns.

JOHANNES EISELE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

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The New York Times - USA (2020-08-09)

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