Buffett's Berkshire bought Dow Jones, bank stocks

OMAHA -- Berkshire bought the Dow Jones shares sometime in April, May or June, so it could have paid as little as $34 a share. Berkshire held 2.78 million shares of Dow Jones stock, worth about $159.8 million, at the end of June.

The Dow Jones purchase runs counter to Buffett's well-established opinion that newspapers face long-term challenges because the economics of the business are eroding. But Berkshire's Dow Jones ownership is likely to be short term.

Berkshire's summary reveals several changes in the Omaha-based company's holdings as of June 30, but Berkshire's recent investments in two major freight railroads were omitted.

Berkshire regularly asks the Securities and Exchange Commission for the ability not to immediately disclose its holdings. Berkshire says the information could hurt its trading strategy because the market likes to follow what the "Oracle of Omaha's" company does.

In May, Berkshire revealed the company owned 10.5 million shares of Union Pacific and nearly 6.4 million shares of Norfolk Southern. The news of Berkshire's railroad investments sent shares of all major freight railroads soaring.