''I think over time the dollar will weaken,'' Buffett told reporters after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. ''I have no idea if it'll be this year or five years from now.''

Buffett, the billionaire chairman of the insurance and investment firm, has been betting the U.S. trade deficit would weaken the nation's currency since 2002. In the first three years, Berkshire made $2.96 billion on the wager. Last year the Omaha, Neb.-based company had $955 million in losses as the U.S. Dollar Index advanced 13 percent.

''It's the consumer action in the end. We have no governmental policies to counteract that we are sending a couple billion dollars a day abroad,'' Buffett said. ''We are buying goods and selling capital.''

The deficit in the current account, the broadest measure of international trade, widened to a record $224.9 billion in the fourth quarter, while the trade deficit, a monthly figure, grew to a record $68.5 billion in January, from $65.1 billion a month earlier.

To compensate for the current-account deficit and maintain the value of the dollar, the U.S. needs to attract about $2.5 billion a day from overseas, or about $75 billion a month.

The dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, has fallen 2.2 percent so far this year. The dollar dropped 2.7 percent against the euro and 1.2 percent against the yen.

Buffett bets against the dollar by buying foreign currency-forward contracts. He reduced those investments by $7.6 billion to $13.8 billion last year. The contracts are agreements to purchase a foreign currency in the future at a preset price.

Buffett also said Berkshire investors should expect returns of 6 percent to 8 percent ''overall,'' while there will be years of 30 percent growth.

''I don't expect any enormous returns at all, either for Berkshire Hathaway or the market,'' he said.