This is a repeat of a story that moved on April 29 Stocks  |  Bonds * Record 35000 expected at

(This is a repeat of a story that moved on April 29) Stocks  |  Bonds * Record 35,000 expected at Berkshire annual meeting * Tone may be more serious * Company will report Q1 results May 8 By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – By one measure, WarrenBuffett is coming off his worst year ever. But by anothermeasure, the investor may be more popular than ever. Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N), Buffett’sinsurance and investment company, expects a record 35,000people to attend its annual meeting on Saturday. That’s up from 32,000 last year, a crowd that was alreadybursting the seams of the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha inwhat has become known as “Woodstock for Capitalists.” The main event features five hours of questions and answerswith Buffett, 78, and his longtime, rather less-inhibitednumber two, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 85. “They should go down in history for accomplishing what theydid with honest principles,” said Ernie Petrocine, 58, an ownerof two retail clothing stores in Estes Park, Colorado,attending his 16th meeting “Buffett has a common senseapproach to the world. It might be a real simple thing you’veheard 1,000 times, but when he says it, it’s profound.” Buffett, the world’s second-richest person, is coming off atough year for Berkshire, when its book value per share fell9.6 percent in 2008, the biggest drop in Buffett’s 44 years atthe helm. And Berkshire’s Class A shares closed onWednesdayat $93,400, down nearly 40 percent from their peak of $151,650in December 2007.

“I expect a more serious tone this year,” said BillBergman, an equity analyst at Morningstar Inc in Chicago, whois attending the meeting. “Berkshire investors aren’t used to a40 percent decline in the market value of their shares.” Berkshire issued about 100,000 shareholder credentials forthis year’s annual meeting, spokeswoman Carrie Kizer said.Typically, about 35 percent are used. In a departure from previous years, Berkshire will notrelease its first-quarter earnings report on the eve of the May2 meeting, the company said on Wednesday. The company said it was never scheduled to release itsearnings report this week, and will announce them May 8. DERIVATIVE BETS Some of the decline in Berkshire’s stock stems from bigdrops in the value of equity investments such as AmericanExpress Co (AXP.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N). “I do think and hope he spends more time talking about hisholdings in financial stocks,” said Andy Kern, a doctoralcandidate at the University of Missouri who writes the blogBerkshire Ruminations. “Those are the stocks in the Berkshireportfolio that more people worry could drag down performance.” But much of the decline is tied to Berkshire’s derivativecontracts, many of which are long-term bets that stock marketindexes will rise and junk bond defaults will not go sky-high.

If those markets are at their December 2008 levels when thederivatives expire in the future, Berkshire would have to payout $13 billion. But Buffett says the contracts differ from the “financialweapons of mass destruction” he has called other derivatives,in part because of the billions of dollars of upfront premiumshe can invest. Berkshire sells such items as bricks, candy, car insurance,carpets, ice cream, jewelry, knives, paint and underwear Abouthalf its business comes from insurance and reinsurance Manybusinesses have been hurt by the recession. Buffett is worth $40 billion, trailing only Microsoft Corp(MSFT.O) co-founder and Berkshire director Bill Gates, Forbesmagazine said in March. Most of Buffett’s wealth is inBerkshire stock, and will eventually go to charities, includingthe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The weekend events start with a food-and-cocktail fest atBerkshire-owned jeweler Borsheim’s. Thrifty shoppers looking to save their pennies can buy suchthings as a Berkshire Hathaway Piggy Bank (cost: 2,804 pennies)or a pair of 18-karat white gold earrings with diamonds (cost:1,600,000 pennies, according to Borsheim’s catalog — minus theshareholder discount).