Just made a buy of one share of Class B. To me, the headline risk is no risk at all.

Buffett's legions say it would be foolish to compare Gen Re's problems with AIG's: The latter has admitted to questionable accounting under ousted Chief Executive Officer Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg and is working with regulators to set itself aright. By contrast, there has been no hint of any accounting irregularities by Gen Re, and Buffett has been called a helpful witness by no less than New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Buffett "is as honest and fair a person as there is anywhere," says longtime industry-watcher David Schiff, editor of Schiff's Insurance Observer.

And yet, there are lingering fears that more shoes may drop in the Gen Re-AIG investigations. "My feeling is that the Department of Justice and the SEC are not done," cautions Standard & Poor's Equity Research insurance analyst Catherine A. Seifert, who has had a sell rating on Berkshire's stock since March. It's still trading at a stiff premium of about 22 times expected 2005 earnings, which is about twice the price-earnings multiple its insurance peers command. "Berkshire's valuation may come under some contraction because of the uncertainties," she adds.