Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett called out the current batch of presidential candidates for their “negative drumbeat” in regards to the nation’s economy.
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“We’ve owned stocks that we’ve lost money in”, Buffett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box “.
“For 240 years it’s been a awful mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start”, Buffett wrote.
“This is the ultimate bracket contest”, Buffett said. “We’ve done that on a few occasions with stocks and bonds over the years”.
Two years ago, billionaire Warren Buffett, through his company Berkshire Hathaway, teamed up with Quicken Loans to offer $1 billion to anyone who could successfully pick every game of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
In his shareholder address, Buffett points out his business – Berkshire – is far more conservative when it comes to avoiding risks than other insurance companies. This year I’m travelling to the U.S. earlier than usual to celebrate my daughter Karen’s 40th birthday. Last year, however, Clayton foreclosed on 8,444 mortgages at a cost of $157 million, and paid nearly $750,000 in fines and refunds to customers.
The letter also noted that Berkshire shareholders will be asked this year to vote on a proposal requiring the company to prepare a report on the threat climate chance poses for its insurance operation.
“We would be better off if we had a big mattress in Europe that we could stick all the stuff in”, Buffett joked. Berkshire posted a $24 billion profit previous year, up from $20 billion in 2014. It’s been more than 70 years since I delivered a Washington Post newspaper headlining the fact that the United States had dropped the first atomic bomb.
“When you hear talk about America’s crumbling infrastructure, rest assured that they’re not talking about Berkshire”, Buffett stated.
Buffett specifically thanks investment manager Todd Combs for bringing PCC to his attention, and he notes that Combs and his colleague Ted Weschler “add major value to Berkshire… If they want to do what Berkshire does, then they should buy Berkshire”, he said.
Off the public market, Berkshire now owns 10.25 companies outright that would be listed on the Fortune 500 were they independent (including the 27 per cent Kraft Heinz interest).
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Auto insurance rates, Buffett said, are going up this year.
