Warren Buffett - Gold and Paper Money

Warren Buffett - Gold and Paper Money

7 May 2012 CNBC
[It's a huge question people have asked us, this huge run up in Gold over 4 years. 'Civilized people don't buy Gold!'

Bill Gates - Historically I did have Silver investments. But Gold is so psychological. Countries need liquidity, here is an asset which is not doing anything for the citizen, people don't suddenly buy 4 times more jewelery. It's just purely other people in the future think it's worth more than it's worth today. People panic. The supply equation will change. The bulls will have to adjust to innovation.


Warren Buffet -
"Gold has gone and Berkshire hasn't gone up by as much. If you buy an ounce of gold you can carress it and fondle it, a hundred years from now you will still have an ounce of Gold. If you buy farmland it will produce for 100 years and you will still have the farmland. You can buy the Dow Jones, at the end you have dividends for 100 years. So a productive asset is going to kill a non-productive asset. But any asset can outperform any other asset [Beautiful - he knows the inherent contradiction that is both for and against Gold]

Incidentally THEY ARE RIGHT TO BE AFRAID OF PAPER MONEY. If they run from it that is a mistake....but it is a correct premise" [Amazing]

Warren Buffett on Europe

7 May 2012 CNBC
[What about Europe and the market sell-off?]

It doesn't make any difference to us. We will buy the same stocks cheaper. These are US Stocks! Its issues we already own. The lower they go the more we like it.

[When you see the shift away from austerity what does it mean for the future of Europe?]

It will be very difficult to resolve their problems. Coordinating between 17 countries...it is a big problem. Even if you can sell the people on austerity you need 17 going in the same direction. If you have a common monetary unit you need common fiscal policies. It's difficult.

[If you look 2 or 3 years down the road what happens to Europe?]

I don't know the answer. But there will be more episodes. 10 years from now Europe will be producing more, you have wonderful companies. It isn't the end of the world but it can be a very messy process getting from here to there.

[The United States hasn't fixed its problems, the Euro is at a 3-month low. The US is a stronger place with treasuries but how long can that continue?]

It can continue for a long time. The US is on a different path. The US has cleaned up a significant amount of its bad loans, plus we have our own currency!

[Do you expect more monetary easing from the ECB?]

1 trillion isn't bad! They had a funding scare, sovereign bonds, mark-to-market....the ECB stepped in with 3-year paper. They headed off that funding crisis....but the problems with the banks haven't been solved, the liquidity has been solved.

[Greece's election - neo nazis! You've seen a lot of things, does it worry you?]

There are a lot of things that worry me in the world but they get resolved. But asking people to vote for Pain?! It can be done under certain circumstances, under WW2 people restricted their own consumption. But it's not an easy job especially for a number of countries to do it.

[The proud French can't live the way they're living! There are not enough millionaires to tax!]

If you had a rich uncle you would not be too embarassed to go back to him!

Warren Buffett : Lady Di Told Me Bill Clinton Was The Sexiest Man Alive

Warren Buffett : ...It was Jackie Kennedy and princess DI. I was in a room alone one time with princess DI and somehow we found ourselves in this library. in 15 minutes, i had trouble remembering my name and i couldn't think of anything to say and it was a total disaster. the more interesting thing is i only met her one other time. it was a partly at Kay Graham's house and it was shortly before her death and i was at the table, they put me across the table after my previous disaster but she was sitting between Barry Diller and Tenny Forceman and after she died a few weeks later, all these people called and said what did she talk about that evening? i didn't tell them but i will tell you today a comment she made which is actually true, she had been to the white house that day and she said that Bill Clinton was the sexiest man alive. i didn't ask her who the least sexy guy in the world alive was. i was afraid i might get my play in there.

Warren Buffett on Facebook IPO

In reference to the Facebook IPO, Warren Buffett says "we aren't in a bubble phase," adding that what's happened with Facebook is "extraordinary." Warren Buffett :"we aren't in any bubble phase , people got excited about companies that have done that well and they should , it's extraordinary what happened with that company. but we have not got to the point where we came along and name anything that have just gone wild so this is not a bubble. "

Warren Buffett To Face Shareholders @ Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

Forbes editors on what to expect when the Oracle of Omaha meets with shareholders at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.Warren Buffett's 2012 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting Interviews held this month Warren Buffett's 2011 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting Interviews held