Buffett: Economy on up, healthcare problem

01/03/2010

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"We got past Pearl Harbor," Buffett said on the CNBC business news channel. "We will win the war, and it's going slightly our way."

Buffett said business remains "slow" in many areas, including at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc, as consumers adopt a more cautious mindset about spending.

He also said consumers must fend off "out of control" healthcare costs, which he called "a national emergency" and a "tapeworm" eating at the economy.

Even as the economy improves, Buffett said it may not make stocks more attractive to buy. Buffett lamented not buying more aggressively last March, when stocks were hitting decade lows.

"My enthusiasm for stocks is in direct proportion to how far they go down," he said. "Stocks are a lot less attractive now than they were a year ago."

Buffett spoke two days after Berkshire published its annual report, including Buffett's widely read shareholder letter.

Full-year profit at the Omaha, Nebraska-based company rose 61 percent. Berkshire has about 80 operating businesses that sell things from car insurance, carpeting and ice cream to industrial components, paint and underwear.

"There's a few businesses that have really had a fair amount of bounce," while others show no improvement, he said. "It's getting better, but at a very, very slow pace."

Buffett said President Obama is doing a good job in restoring the country from difficult conditions. "I give Obama high marks," he said.

CEO succession
A $26.5bn takeover in February of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp, the second-largest US railroad, cost Berkshire the last of its "triple-A" ratings from major credit agencies.

Buffett raised about half of the $15.9bn of cash used for the takeover, Berkshire's largest, in credit markets.

He said the downgrades had virtually no impact on Berkshire, perhaps costing just a few hundredths of a percentage point in extra yield on its debt.

"I think we deserve a quadruple-A" rating, which does not exist, he joked.

Buffett also said there remain three potential candidates to succeed him as chief executive, including one ready to take over immediately if needed.

He praised David Sokol, who chairs Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy unit and whom he installed to slash debt and restore profit at the troubled NetJets plane leasing unit. "What Dave has done there is miraculous," Buffett said.

Buffett also praised Ajit Jain, a 25-year Berkshire veteran who runs much of its insurance business and talks with Buffett each day. He called Jain "incredibly valuable" to Berkshire, and said he is responsible for "a huge part" of its success.

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