Retail investors of modest means have long had to sit on the sidelines when it came to Berkshire Hathaway. That's recently changed as the common "B" shares of Warren Buffett's firm have become affordable for investors with portfolios of all sizes. But just because you can buy Berkshire doesn't mean you should.

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was stripped of its last AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor’s after the billionaire investor agreed to buy railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Berkshire, which is taking on debt to fund the $26 billion takeover, was cut to AA+ from S&P’s highest grade, the ratings firm said today in a statement. The downgrade concludes a review that S&P announced on Nov. 4, the day after Berkshire disclosed the deal for Burlington Northern.

Source: Business Week Link Below