market folly

Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett recently made the media rounds so here's a quick summary.

In his interview with Fox Business, Buffett said that his brick business isn't doing as well as his carpet business.  He also noted that furniture retailing is doing well.  He also said, "The insurance business (GEICO) has been quite good to us over the years, and continues to be."

Regarding oil, Buffett points out a common misperception that his railroad (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) is not as affected as people might think.

When asked if he would raise rates in September if he was on the Federal Reserve, he said he probably wouldn't.

Embedded below is the video of Buffett's interview on Fox Business:





Buffett also talked with CNBC.  There, he said that he bought more IBM (IBM) thus far in the third quarter.

Interestingly, Buffett said that "I'll never go below $20 billion in cash."  This pertains to Berkshire's upcoming purchase of Precision Castparts (PCP) where he'll opt to finance part of the deal with debt in order to maintain that certain cash level.

Buffett also said that on big down days with higher volume in the stock market, Berkshire will be out buying more than usual of certain stocks if for instance they were buying 20% of the volume for that day.  He likes to stay around that level so that he doesn't affect the price too much.

He re-emphasized his focus on 5-10 years from now as he thinks markets will be higher then and that's all that really matters to him.  He isn't concerned with short-term gyrations and isn't about to predict what will happen in the near-term.

On why he bought a bunch of Phillips 66 (PSX), Buffett said, "I had always intended that we would come back in, assuming the price is right.  PSX has no upstream production.  PSX is not a pure refiner, they've got a big chemical division.  We're buying it because we like the company and we like the management very much."

Embedded below is the video of Buffett's interview with CNBC:




Lastly, Buffett also chatted with Bloomberg.  There, he revealed that he doesn't see local TV broadcasting as a growth business.

On the global economy, he noted that, "I think it's unlikely that the world has some great slowdown, but it always can."

He also noted he's bullish on China over its long-term potential.

Embedded below is the video of Buffett's talk with Bloomberg: