High up on the "unexpected Berkshire buys" list was Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD) a gold miner that Berkshire purchased in the second quarter. This was very surprising since Buffett had long been opposed to investing in gold versus productive businesses -- though arguably Barrick is a business, albeit one whose earnings is tied to the price of gold. We still don't know the exact reason for the gold-oriented purchase, but it could be due to fears of inflation and instability.