— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on May 8, Tuesday.
The 3 investment heavyweights shared a lot of valuable content in the 3 hours exclusive interview of CNBC. Let's list the highlights: First, we all know that Buffett has been buying boatload of Apple shares, boosting the investment sentiment on not only Apple Inc. but also tech stocks and the whole US stock market.
During the overnight, the 3 stock indexes continued to rise, Dow & Jones industry index was up 0.39%, S&P 500 increased 0.35% and NASDAQ composite index rose 0.77%, which indicates the tech stocks led the way.
But Buffett said, US stock is the best choice for long-term investment.
[Buffett] "ALMOST ALWAYS EQUITIES ARE A BETTER BUY. IF YOURE GOING TO PUT AWAY MONEY OVER TIME WHEN YOURE YOUNGER YOU CAN BUY STOCK AND YOULL NOT GET THE LOWS AND YOULL NOT BUY AT THE HIGHS. A CROSS SECTION. LIKE I SAY IT CAN TURN 10K DOLLARS INTO 51M DOLLARS AND YOU NEVER HAVE TO LOOK AT A FINANCIAL PAGE AGAIN."
Now Buffett is heavily into Apple, he also said that some companies he held positive views to or had invest on are facing changes now.
Like coca cola, Kraft and other food companies. "Coca cola and Kraft are still good companies but not as outstanding as 5 years before. The reasons for their wane are: first, people are exploring different diet ways and customers are not as loyalty as before. Second, wholesalers compete with brand severely, and wholesalers, includes the online retailers with fast development, are more powerful in the negotiation with brand.
Meanwhile, Buffet also declared his position to the trade friction between China and US by acknowledging that the severe trade friction is a small-probability issue.
[Buffett] "I DONT THINK WE WILL HAVE TRADE WARS OF SIGNIFICANCE WE WILL HAVE TRADE MOVEMENTS BUT IN TERMS OF THE OLD FASHIONED THOUGHT OF A TRADE WAR WHERE YOU JUST KEEP PILING IT ON, I DONT THINK THAT HAPPENS ITS COUNTER TO THE INTEREST OF US, ITS COUNTER TO THE INTEREST
OF CHINA, ITS COUNTER TO THE INTEREST OF EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. THE WORLD THRIVES
ON TRADE AND WE WOULD NOT HAVE THE ECONOMY NOR WOULD CHINA OR THE REST OF THE WORLD HAVE THE ECONOMIC WELL BEING THEY HAVE WITHOUT A LOT OF TRADE."
Additionally, Charlie Munger, Buffett's old partner, answered questions on several topics. The market is more interested on his interest to China. "The best companies in China are cheaper than the best companies in the United States" he said, and his family is "substantially" invested in China, where they began investing 14 years ago. At present, Munger also persuade Buffet to do more investment in China
[Charlie Munger] "And it all looked inexpensive to me. And the companies looked very strong to me. And, of course, this worked out. I've done way better than I had any right to expect. I don't think it would be all that hard for any smart person to find four or five great companies in China" to invest in.
Bill Gates, who had long been one on the world wealthiest, commented on the hot topic about tech – data security. He believes that the tech companies will find the best way to manage data security, and the regulatory is the stimulation to a more secure internet.
[Bill Gates] "Privacy is a super important issue, but I do think that the big companies, even with regulation comes, which is inevitable, they will be able to handle it. People dont mind having a little bit of demographic information about themsleves used to target the ads, thats value added to the user."
These 3 heavyweights have many common views on some topics, for example, all of them back Apple, and think apple has a good performance from management to product. And they are all shunning the cryptocurrency, like bitcoin. Buffett said bitcoin is "probably rat poison squared," while Munger said that trading in cryptocurrencies is "just dementia." 'I would short bitcoin if I could" Gates said. So they have some similar views on many topics, but also have different investment emphasis. Hope their sharing can inspire you.