Buffett Reveals All To Fox Business, Leaving CNBC In The Dust
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Warren Buffett, Berkshire's President, (NYSE: BRK.A) appeared on Fox Business and gave color on all the various rumors regarding his trades during the past week. He said he won't buy a stake in Bear Stearns and he ``never came close'' to acquiring shares of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC).
Buffett also said Berkshire sold all its stock in PetroChina (NYSE: PTR), a company that has been the target of a divestment campaign by human rights groups. He said he sold his stake in Petrochina because of valuation and not political fears. Berkshire paid $488 million for the stake, valued at $3.3 billion at the end of 2006, according to Berkshire's annual report.
He never bought any shares of Countrywide or Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder and the subject of takeover speculation.
Buffett said he was skeptical about the U.S. Treasury's plan to create an $80 billion fund to buy distressed assets from structured investment vehicles linked to home lending.
``I don't see any way that pooling a bunch of mortgages, changing the ownership, is going to change the viability of the mortgage instrument itself -- whether people can make the payments,'' he said. ``It would be better to have them on the balance sheets so everyone would know what's going on''
Buffett identified the Brazilian real as the unnamed currency he said in May that he owned, noting it has doubled against the U.S. dollar in the past five years.
``During much of that time, the Brazilian government has in effect been supporting the U.S. dollar,'' Buffett said. ``They have been buying dollars in the market, they have been building up their own reserves. Their current account has turned into a good surplus,'' while the U.S. is behaving like ``the Brazilians or the Argentinians 10 or 20 years ago.''
Buffett said he wasn't suggesting anyone buy Brazilian currency. ``We may be cashing out. This is not a huge position. We'll make $100 million,'' he said.
Buffett also said Berkshire sold all its stock in PetroChina (NYSE: PTR), a company that has been the target of a divestment campaign by human rights groups. He said he sold his stake in Petrochina because of valuation and not political fears. Berkshire paid $488 million for the stake, valued at $3.3 billion at the end of 2006, according to Berkshire's annual report.
He never bought any shares of Countrywide or Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder and the subject of takeover speculation.
Buffett said he was skeptical about the U.S. Treasury's plan to create an $80 billion fund to buy distressed assets from structured investment vehicles linked to home lending.
``I don't see any way that pooling a bunch of mortgages, changing the ownership, is going to change the viability of the mortgage instrument itself -- whether people can make the payments,'' he said. ``It would be better to have them on the balance sheets so everyone would know what's going on''
Buffett identified the Brazilian real as the unnamed currency he said in May that he owned, noting it has doubled against the U.S. dollar in the past five years.
``During much of that time, the Brazilian government has in effect been supporting the U.S. dollar,'' Buffett said. ``They have been buying dollars in the market, they have been building up their own reserves. Their current account has turned into a good surplus,'' while the U.S. is behaving like ``the Brazilians or the Argentinians 10 or 20 years ago.''
Buffett said he wasn't suggesting anyone buy Brazilian currency. ``We may be cashing out. This is not a huge position. We'll make $100 million,'' he said.
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