NEW YORK, March 2: Despite the 6.5 per cent stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks says Newsmax, a conservative website, said on Friday.

Warren Buffett, who has been hot for US stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods.

In the latest filing for Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, he has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21 per cent.

Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70 per cent of the US economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome.

Billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of US stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co, dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.