The Dollar General stake, valued at about $48 million as of yesterday, may also have been taken by Combs, said Russo, citing the size relative to larger Buffett bets. The addition of Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General expands Berkshire's holdings of discount retailers. Buffett's firm owns stock in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp.
Berkshire's Dollar General investment "is almost like a bet on a declining economy," said Mark Montagna, senior analyst following retailers at Avondale Partners LLC.
Berkshire's biggest holdings, including Wells Fargo and Coca-Cola Co. (KO), have slipped in the last three weeks as global equity markets retreated. Buffett has reiterated his view that the U.S. would avoid a second recession in three years.
"Financial markets create their own dynamics, but I don't think we're facing a double dip," Buffett told Bloomberg Television's Betty Liu in an interview on Aug. 6.
Confidential Trades
Berkshire omitted information about its portfolio for the second straight quarter. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sometimes allows companies to withhold data from the public to limit copycat investing while a firm is building or cutting a position.
Berkshire's equity portfolio was valued at $67.6 billion as of June 30, with 40 percent in consumer-products firms and 37 percent in financial companies such as banks and insurers. The rest was in a group Berkshire labels "commercial, industrial and other."
Buffett agreed in March to spend $9 billion on engine additives maker Lubrizol Corp., and this month offered to buy reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings Inc. for about $3.25 billion. Berkshire held $47.9 billion of cash as of June 30.
Yesterday's filing by Berkshire includes U.S. holdings. Equity investments abroad are reported to local regulators.