In Mr. Buffett's annual letter to Berkshire shareholders on Saturday, the Omaha, Neb., company's chairman and chief executive said he needs more large deals to supplement the improving earnings of Berkshire's many businesses, which sell everything from insurance to candy, operate utilities, and manufacture homes and ... ), which unfortunately will give Goldman the green light before too long.” 
 
 Mr. Buffett attributed much of the year’s success to his acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, calling it the highlight of 2010. “However slow the economy, or chaotic the markets, our checks will clear,” he said. "Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy," Buffett said.
– Warren Buffett says he's looking to pull off another major deal on the scale of last year's big railroad purchase. "We're prepared," he writes in his closely watched annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. "Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy." (Read the letter in full here.) After a big gain in earnings, Berkshire is sitting on about $38 billion in cash, the highest amount since 2007, reports the Wall Street Journal. Despite his optimism for the US recovery—the report may as well be titled "God Bless the USA," notes the New York Times' Dealbook blog—it wasn't all rosy news: Even though the company's book value increased by 13%, it failed to beat the growth of the S&P (15%) for the second year in a row—a rarity for Buffett. "The bountiful years, we want to emphasize, will never return," he writes. "The huge sums of capital we currently manage eliminate any chance of exceptional performance." Click for one analyst's skepticism that another "megadeal" is in the offing.