NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) May 5, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has affirmed its 'AAA' counterparty credit, 'A-1+' commercial paper, and 'AAA' senior unsecured debt ratings on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK). The outlook remains stable. BRK's net income declined to $940 million in the first quarter of 2008 from $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2007. The decline was caused mainly by a derivative loss of $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2008 versus a gain of $143 million in the first quarter of 2007. Specifically, credit default contracts had fair value losses of $490 million, while equity derivatives (all European puts) had losses near $1.2 billion. The equity derivatives expire in 2019
