Warren Buffett was interviewed for two hours on CNBC on October 24. These are some of the highlights of that interview:
(1) The stock market generally is the best place to have money. Stocks that are likely to do well over 5 – 10 years should be bought steadily over time and held regardless of the news.
(2) The worldwide economy is slowing, but the U.S. economy is inching ahead. U.S. residential housing is picking up.
(3) He likes to buy stocks at lower prices after a market decline.
(4) In the past week he has added to Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings in Wells Fargo (WFC). It is very well run. He has added $1 billion of WFC’s shares this year.
(5) Ben Bernanke is doing a superb job. He would rather have Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank than anyone else.
(6) He buys stocks for future earnings. He likes firms that repurchase shares. IBM repurchased $3 billion of shares in each of the first three quarters of 2012. Although IBM is struggling a little, he has great confidence in them over the years. He has added many hundreds of millions of dollars of IBM this year ($12 billion holding). He is delighted to be in IBM. It will probably do better abroad than in the U.S. over time.
(7) Berkshire has over $40 billion in cash and he is “salivating” over making a large ($20 billion) acquisition. There have been two possible $20 billion deals this year that CEO’s were willing to make. But the prices were too high. Prices have been bid up as a result of the very low interest rates which facilitate the borrowing and bidding for companies by others. Instead, he has made 15 bolt-on acquisitions for a total of $2 billion this year. These acquisitions fit with companies Berkshire owns.
(8) U.S. businesses will get a lot better over the next four years regardless of who is elected President.
(1) The stock market generally is the best place to have money. Stocks that are likely to do well over 5 – 10 years should be bought steadily over time and held regardless of the news.
(2) The worldwide economy is slowing, but the U.S. economy is inching ahead. U.S. residential housing is picking up.
(3) He likes to buy stocks at lower prices after a market decline.
(4) In the past week he has added to Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings in Wells Fargo (WFC). It is very well run. He has added $1 billion of WFC’s shares this year.
(5) Ben Bernanke is doing a superb job. He would rather have Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank than anyone else.
(6) He buys stocks for future earnings. He likes firms that repurchase shares. IBM repurchased $3 billion of shares in each of the first three quarters of 2012. Although IBM is struggling a little, he has great confidence in them over the years. He has added many hundreds of millions of dollars of IBM this year ($12 billion holding). He is delighted to be in IBM. It will probably do better abroad than in the U.S. over time.
(7) Berkshire has over $40 billion in cash and he is “salivating” over making a large ($20 billion) acquisition. There have been two possible $20 billion deals this year that CEO’s were willing to make. But the prices were too high. Prices have been bid up as a result of the very low interest rates which facilitate the borrowing and bidding for companies by others. Instead, he has made 15 bolt-on acquisitions for a total of $2 billion this year. These acquisitions fit with companies Berkshire owns.
(8) U.S. businesses will get a lot better over the next four years regardless of who is elected President.