Warren Buffett, who has called derivatives “financial weapons of mass destruction, now says they’re not “evil per se.” In a private interview before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Buffett, whose firm, Berkshire Hathaway, made USD222 million on derivatives in the fourth quarter alone, qualified his earlier comment, saying, “there’s nothing wrong with a having a futures contract...But they do let people engage in massive mischief.” He said what worries him most are big financial institutions that have millions of contracts.
