Hartcourt Companies (fka HRCT)

[Investorman]

S&P gets tough -- and Buffett bets on a fall

Even as a mini-rally percolates, the bastions of bullishness are recognizing reality, one sharpening its standards and the other placing bearish bets.
By Bill Fleckenstein

Pumping earnings with artificial byproducts isn't getting any easier for Corporate America today, as even the foot-draggers at Standard & Poor’s last week announced strict new guidelines for calculating profits. Share prices will go south when investors realize they've been paying even more for less.

In recognition of that eventual trajectory, the dean of all investors, Warren Buffett, has bought derivatives to bet against the S&P 500 ($INX).