Buffett Not Fazed By Finance Crisis -- AP
Wednesday September 16, 5:21 pm Eastern Time
By JOE RUFF
Associated Press Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he's
not shaken by global financial market turmoil.
''It isn't the end of the world at all,'' Buffett said Wednesday
at a meeting of shareholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway
Inc. (NYSE:BRKa - news; BRK - news)
''I'm used to things bobbing around,'' said Buffett, who is known
for buying stock for the long haul. ''It doesn't change my
outlook on value at all.''
His comments came at a special shareholders meeting, which
approved Berkshire's $22 billion acquisition of General Re
(NYSE:GRN - news) of Stamford, Conn., the nation's largest
insurer of insurance companies.
General Re's stockholders are set to vote Friday, but Buffett
said more than half the proxy votes are in and they
overwhelmingly approve the deal.
Still pending is the approval of federal regulators, but the
companies expect the merger to be completed before the end of
this year.
Berkshire's portfolio already includes investments in Coca
(NYSE:KO - news)-Cola, Gillette, American Express (NYSE:AXP -
news) and Walt Disney.
Much of General Re's $24 billion investment portfolio is in
bonds, which historically have earned lower long-term returns
than stocks. Buffett said he won't immediately change the
insurer's investments.
''I don't have any desire to convert General Re's portfolio to a
100 percent stock portfolio, because I don't see anything to do
with it,'' Buffett said. ''But it will happen, and when it
happens it will be a tremendous advantage compared with other
insurance companies.''
Buffett spoke to about 1,000 shareholders gathered at the ornate
Orpheum Theater in downtown Omaha. He addressed several topics,
especially world market turmoil.
''I'm not getting any great edge over other investors by reading
about what is going on in Russia. The only thing that is going to
make us money is investing in good companies at an appropriate
price,'' he said.
In trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, where it is
the most expensive stock, Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares
were up $1,300 to $60,500 each. The Class B stock, the
second-most-expensive shares on the NYSE, gained $39 to close at
$2,018.
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