NEW YORK >> Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless provider, will stop offering phones at discounted prices when customers sign two-year service contracts. The move was made in the name of simplification, but it could result in some customers paying more.

All wireless carriers have been trying to wean customers off subsidies, in which a $649 iPhone 6 goes for $200 with a two-year contract. Instead, carriers have urged people to buy phones outright by paying the full retail price in monthly installments. A few carriers, namely Sprint, also offer leasing options for a lower monthly fee, but the customer doesn’t get to keep and resell the phone without additional payments. Verizon is the second national carrier, after T-Mobile, to end subsidies entirely for new customers.

Berkshire’s earnings drop 37%

OMAHA, Neb. >> Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a 37 percent drop in its second-quarter profit as the paper value of its investments fell and its insurance companies reported an underwriting loss.

Berkshire’s net income fell to $4.01 billion, or $2,442 per Class A share. That’s down from last year’s $6.4 billion, or $3,889 per share. Those results were helped by a $1.1 billion paper gain on a stock exchange deal. Revenue grew 3 percent to $51.4 billion.

The four analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Berkshire to report operating earnings per Class A share of $2,997.14. By that measure Berkshire reported per-share profit of $2,367, down from $2,634.

ON THE MOVE

Kaiser Permanente has announced the following new care provider:

>> Dr. William Shapiro has joined Maui Lani Medical Office’s after-hours care department. He previously served in the emergency departments of Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region, in Orange County-Anaheim and Orange County-Irvine facilities.

Cain Kamano, a Toastmasters member since July 2008, is representing Hawaii’s District 49 Toastmasters at the World Championship of Public Speaking Contest next week at Ceasars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The contest is one of the major events in the 2015 Toastmasters International Convention, to be held Wednesday to Saturday. Kamano is among 90 people who will each give a seven-minute speech at the semifinal contest Thursday. Ten people will advance to the final round, held on the last day of the convention. Originally, Kamano was chosen out of 1,200 members in Hawaii to compete among 10,000 others from 8,200 clubs around the world.