In an interview with CNBC Feb. 29, investor Warren Buffett said that distracted driving is a growing concern which not only led to an increase in roadside fatalities the previous year, but also hurt the profits of GEICO’s insurance unit.
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By collecting dozens of smaller non-insurance businesses, Berkshire, which “love[s] them all”, has put together a collection of businesses that “will expand both in number and earnings as the years go by”, according to Buffett.
In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, released on Saturday, Buffett dismissed the idea that the USA economy would fail to provide a better lifestyle for future generations than it has in the past.
“I think they’re making a big mistake by piggybacking me or 10 other people whose names appear in the paper”, Buffett said. Buffett said the benefit to Americans trickles in slowly every time they fill up their gas tanks. Buffett told CNBC that while he agrees with some of Munger’s views about Sanders, he also respects some of the Vermont senator’s ideas. Buffett said employees who work for Berkshire as of March 1 will be eligible to compete for his big March Madness offer.
That’s right: the odds of correctly picking the entire tournament are more than one in 9.2 quintillion, a statistic that Warren Buffett probably knows all too well. He reiterated that sentiment as the S&P 500 index of stocks, up 0.5% Monday to 1957.79, is down 4% this year on fears that a slowdown in China could spread to the rest of the world.
Mr Buffett describes American children born today as “the luckiest crop in history”, dismissing the pessimism pedaled by the current Presidential candidates. “And, yes, America’s kids will live far better than their parents did”, Buffett, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, wrote in the letter. The investments did weigh down the company’s stock, but seemed to have paid off as the company reported operating profit of $17.36 billion, with total profits of $24.08 billion for 2015.
The Fed increased rates for the first time in more than nine years in December.
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While Buffett’s preference over the years has been to own and operate companies that are already lean, he recently partnered with buyout firm 3G Capital on a few deals where the goal was to cut costs.
