We’ve got an extra day to prepare for the arrival of March this year, but Warren Buffett has already set the stage for what promises to be an exciting season of bracket guesses and office pools across the country.
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Buffett said he can’t predict how having interest rates negative for a prolonged period will affect the economy because it has never happened before. Berkshire’s annual report showed the conglomerate had lost $2.6 billion on the investment at the end of a year ago.
Talking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Buffett announced a NCAA Tournament bracket contest for employees of Berkshire Hathaway, which is headquartered in Omaha, Neb., or any of its subsidiaries. Buffett has addressed both topics at shareholder meetings in the past. “But when you are thinking only as a shareholder of a major insurer, climate change should not be on your list of worries”. In fact, the contest devolved into a court battle with Yahoo, the web site hosting Buffett’s challenge, and SCA Promotions over what CNN Money said was a squabble over who came up with the idea first. Buffett said auto insurance rates are going up because of the increased occurrence and severity of accidents previous year.
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Buffett’s letter is one of the most well-read documents in the business world each year because of his successful track record and his knack for explaining complicated subjects in simple terms. Buffett said the benefit to Americans trickles in slowly every time they fill up their gas tanks. When dividends are factored in, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent by comparison.
