Warren Buffett Watch
- BNSF CEO: Buffett's Bid for Railroad "Warmly Received" In Washington
- Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets Furloughs 495 Pilots
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway May Lose Only Remaining AAA Credit Rating
- Buffett to CNBC: Berkshire Talking to 5 Firms About Buying Tax Credits
- CNBC Transcript: Warren Buffett Explains His Railroad 'All-In Bet' on America
- Warren Buffett to CNBC: Berkshire Businesses Doing 'Just a Tick Better'
- Warren Buffett Tells CNBC Burlington Northern Buy Is 'Bet' On America
- Warren Buffett Sells More Moody's After Stock Rebounds
- Warren Buffett Beats Bill Gross As Best Investor - Bloomberg Poll
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to Hold Master Class in CNBC Special
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Flaw in US Data Overstates Growth, Productivity
- Home Prices Start to Stabilize In the US as Sales Pick Up
- Israel: Leader of Business Innovation
- McDonald's October Sales Top Estimates
- China to Raise Gasoline, Diesel Prices by 7%
- BofA Board in Civil War Over Lewis' Successor
- Why Health Care Bill Is Facing Such a Tough Fight in Senate
- iPhone, App Strategy the 'New Dot Com?'
- Rock Band Weezer Uses Snuggie to Promote New Album
- Solid 3-Year Auction Gives Boost to Treasury Prices
- Profiting From Natural Gas: Strategists
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Shopping for Answers
- 3 Hot Mid-Cap Stock Picks: Portfolio Manager
- Busch: G20 Affirms Weak Dollar
- 'Nice Opportunities' in Health Care Sector: Stock Picker
- Stocks To Play With Health Reform: Analysts
- Are You Making These Costly Investing Mistakes?
- Career Cross Training
- Why the Health Care Bill Is Facing a Tough Senate Fight
- Home Prices Start to Stabilize In the US as Sales Pick Up
- Former SEC Lawyer Pleads Guilty in NY Fraud Case
- Flaw in US Data Overstates Growth, Productivity
- Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- 'The Onion' as Trading Indicator? Ask Radio Shack
- Goldman Sachs Head Says Banks Do 'God's Work'
- Framed for Child Pornography — by a Computer Virus
- BofA Board in Civil War Over Lewis' Successor
Text Size 
Executive Producer
 |
In a live interview on CNBC today, Warren Buffett said there has been little progress over the past few months in the "economic war" being fought by the country. "We haven't got the economy moving yet," he told Becky Quick.
READ THE FULL CNBC INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
While the economy is a "shambles" and likely to stay that way for some time, he remains optimistic there will eventually be a recovery over a period of years.
BECKY: The last time we sat down to talk to you was on May 4, and at that point you told us that you think we're in an economic war right now. How much progress do you think we've made in that war?
BUFFETT: Well, it's been pretty flat. I get figures on 70-odd businesses, a lot of them daily. Everything that I see about the economy is that we've had no bounce. The financial system was really where the crisis was last September and October, and that's been surmounted and that's enormously important. But in terms of the economy coming back, it takes a while. There were a lot of excesses to be wrung out and that process is still underway and it looks to me like it will be underway for quite a while. In the (Berkshire Hathaway) annual report I said the economy would be in a shambles this year and probably well beyond. I'm afraid that's true.
Buffett also noted that he had a cataract operation on his left eye about a month ago. He joked that he thought it might help him see "green shoots" for the economy, but so far he hasn't seen any hopeful signs.
Taking a firm position in an ongoing debate in the financial markets, Buffett says he's not concerned about deflation, but thinks inflation will be a problem in coming years.
Despite his negative view on the economy, Buffett still believes the stock market is attractive "over the next 10 years" when compared to alternatives like Treasury bonds.
Buffett endorsed Ben Bernanke's reappointment as Federal Reserve Chairman, saying "you couldn't do better." He also praised Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
- Slideshow: Top 10 Places the Wealthy Call 'Home'
- Slideshow: America's 15 Most Recession-Resistant Cities
Asked about how Apple handled Steve Jobs' liver transplant, Buffett said it is a "material fact" when the CEO of a company is facing major surgery. He thinks criticism of Apple over the matter is appropriate.
Buffett repeated his criticism of "cap and trade" as a method to control pollution, saying it would be a huge, regressive tax.
Current Berkshire stock prices:
Class A: [US;BRK.A
Loading...
()
]
Class B: [US;BRK.B
Loading...
()
]
 |
For more Buffett Watch updates follow alexcrippen on Twitter.
Questions? Comments? Email me at
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes