Waren Buffett was te gast bij CNBC. Hij kwam met enkele heel opmerkelijke uitspraken. Als hij het over aandelen heeft, zegt Buffett dat je je goede aandelen niet moet verkopen omdat er slecht nieuws is over Europa, e.d. Buffet zelf kocht zijn eerste aandelen 3 maanden na de aanval op Pearl Harbor, wanneer alles slecht nieuws was. To buy and sell stocks on current news is just crazy.  Dancing in and out of markets based on the news is a terrible mistake. You have to treat owning stock like owning a business. Buffett vindt dat Bernanke een geweldige job doet, maar hij is wel bezorgd over de stijgende balans van de F.E.D. Buffett is worried about the continuously expanding balance sheet of the Fed.  The Fed has unlimited buying power, but not unlimited selling power (the Fed can buy all the paper it wants, but when it’s time to sell they’ll need cooperation (from buyers)). Over Coca cola blijft Buffett enthousiast. Met Berkshire Hataway is Buffett al lang een groot aandeelhouder van coca cola. Het verbruik van coca cola per inwoner stijgt al bijna onafgebroken sinds 1886. This comment was in response to a question about inflation and higher input costs.  He never got there but I guess he was going to say that great businesses with great products will be able to price their products profitably (pass through costs). Verder had Buffett nog enkele opmerkelijke uitspraken:

  • American business and economy will do better in the next four years no matter who wins.
  • It’s tough to have austerity and try to grow GDP at the same time.  Europe will be tough for some time.
  • Monetary union without discipline is not sustainable.  They will have to become closer.
  • Printing money has consequences and we have yet to see what that will be.
  • Buffett said that it’s a terrible mistake if you don’t buy a home now, if you know where you are going to live for a long time and if you have a stable job/income.
  • Buffett wouldn’t invest in Facebook.   He doesn’t understand the business. He’s not even a member even though FB has a billion members.
  • Banks can’t be as profitable as it used to be in the past. Banks business model has two factors: Return-on-assets (ROA) and assets-to-equity (leverage). Return on assets won’t go up. In the past, (some) banks had 20x assets to equity.  With an ROA of 1.5%, 20x leverage gives you a ROE of 30%.  This won’t happen in the future. But banking is still a good business.

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