Warren Buffett Goldman Sachs argues
A few minutes after playing the ukulele, billionaire Warren Buffett held a highly anticipated speech on his views on the matter Goldman Sachs during his famous annual general meeting of shareholders of his holding company Berkshire Hathaway.
If prosecution by the SEC (Constable American Stock Exchange) fraud linked to subprime * from Goldman Sachs, now coupled with a criminal investigation, has reopened the debate on capitalism in general and the behavior of banks in particular, "said the sage of Omaha supports the weight of the world's largest bank, in which he invested in September 2008 – is in financial crisis – some five billion dollars.
Before 40,000 investors whose excitement gave way to silence, the star of finance has given quite a boost to the credibility of Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs boss – who is still not at the end of its penalties – and his bank, which suffers in the stock exchange since the complaint the SEC on April 16: From U.S. $ 184.3 to 145.2 dollars, the stock has tumbled 21.3%, of which -9.4% Friday while S & P advised to "sell" the securities.
Also in humor, Warren Buffett, who is seeking a successor – he will blow his 80th birthday next August – will be delighted that Lloyd has a twin brother "to select it.More seriously, without giving names, Warren Buffett assured that if he died tomorrow, there would be "a new CEO within 24 hours."
Accepting mistakes
"It's a little hard for me to have much sympathy for a bank that has made the wrong choice," he said, referring to financial institutions that bought the famous product Abacus created by the young French Fabrice Tourre .
Certainly, the financial product was very complex, but, as the guru, a bank like ABN Amro knows what she does when she made a "deal". But this one has not made the expected result for the Dutch establishment. We must assume, for Warren Buffett.
The fault with the regulations, not banks
While the banking sector reform in the United States wades, Warren Buffett believes that this regulation is responsible for the financial woes in recent years, not the banks.
According to Deputy Buffett, Charlie Munger, who spoke on Sunday, "the problem is that our banks and investment banks are regulated by a combination of permissiveness and stupidity." For him, the bankers are problems like tigers escaped circus gone mad. "It's that idiot guard tiger who has not made the job" summarizes the investor. "The regulatory system of government has deceived us."
Berkshire Hathaway goes green
The Berkshire Hathaway investment fund billionaire is ironed in the green in the first quarter with net earnings of $ 3.63 billion, while filming a loss of 1.53 billion over the same period a year earlier ."These results show that the economy is showing signs of significant occasions for the first time," concluded Warren Buffett.
Announced Saturday, these preliminary figures attest to the vibrancy of its business in derivatives, which revives the profits from 1.41 billion dollars, while the loss was $ 3.24 billion in the first three months of the year.
Operating income rose 30% to 2.2 billion dollars against 1.7 billion a year earlier.
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