Well he was for higher tax's before the bailouts, maybe he knew something long before we think he did.

Well done skewer, KD. The irony is that all J6P will take away from the mass media coverage of any of this is how smart it is to buy and hold, especially now in this "new bull market."

I think I'm just gonna turn everything off for a few months...

Seems more like he realised that the right thing would never be considered realistically , and acted on it

Lost any remaining respect for the guy's integrity when he let it slip out on CNBC that he had received a call from the Treasury on the weekend before the FNM/FRE nationalization. Did any other taxpayers get the call?

typo, "shewed" should be "shrewd"

it's been a sad realization for many people, coming to terms with the fact that Buffett is no better than the rest of the scum controlling high finance.

Berkshire's TARP holdings constitute 30 percent of its publicly disclosed stock portfolio, and that proportion reflects at least twice as much dependence on bailed-out banks as any other large investor.

Berkshire, for instance, is the largest shareholder in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which got $25 billion -- 91 percent of the TARP funds invested in institutions headquartered in California.

Buffett increased his bank holdings in September, while he was arguing in the media that Congress should approve the bailout to prevent the collapse of the global financial system.

"If I didn't think the government was going to act, I would not be doing anything this week," Buffett told CNBC after investing $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. "I am, to some extent, betting on the fact that the government will do the rational thing here and act promptly."

The more the bailout props up these financial companies, the more secure Berkshire's and other shareholders' investments in them are. Berkshire shares have risen sharply with the financial sector stock rally.

Buffett's company is also the largest investor in pigman central: Goldman Sachs and American Express.

In the end Humanity NEVER changes.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DEMOCRACY OR FREE MARKETS !!!
It's something you read about in books, like fairy tales, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

Thanks for telling the truth about this guy. As far as I can tell, a lot of his performance came not so much from good stock picks, but from buying companies and taking them private. He has also complained about the tax code, while taking every advantage there is. Last year when he picked up GS, I knew the fix was in.

I don't know... When he was making those investments in 2008, basically everybody on this board was saying BRK is going to be broke and Buffett "has lost his touch" etc etc. I wonder if it was the same in early 90s when he was bailing out GS the previous time? Late 90's techno bubble? 70s and 80s? Hell I think he was said to be out of touch in late 60s...

Now that his investments are paying off big time, he's a "crook." Back in October 2008 or so he was telling everybody to invest. So did he have insider info that these banks wouldn't fail, or was it just an educated guess? And if people followed his advice, how would they fare long term?

Alright, I have a question: If Goldman Sachs knew that it would receive huge bailout money, and all the money funneled through AIG for a fact, why would they accept investment from Warren Buffett...For terms that would make mobsters blush? How about GE?

For a fact I know this: WB gets better terms than others, because a) He's got a reputation and can ask premium for PR against risk he's taking, b) he has a lot of cash in BRK, and if needed, he can invest more when cash poorer investors would run out of money and fail. In the past he has made even bad investments work via hard effort.

Other things and attacks towards his reputation I think are unsubstantiated, and I haven't seen evidence on the contrary.

Now, that doesn't mean he didn't benefit from the money that was funneled to GS and GE. But did he in fact have knowledge of that beforehand? Or is this just a huge bonus, on top of the interest he receives from his preferred share investments? If I recall correctly, he said that he wouldn't have invested money in GS if there wasn't a "kicker", in case shareprices recovered. Why would GS agree to this if they thought they'd be drowning in cash months later?

He's also sold puts on S&P 500. Did he have insider info on future developments? Or is it just a good guess?

I really can't blame Buffett for making his own business environment, unless it's against the law. Does anyone have any proof whatsoever that he's broken the law?

Quote:

Among them is an exemption from reporting requirements when he acquires or sells significant stakes in companies; these actions are required, for ordinary people, to be reported to the SEC and filed publicly. Warren has an exemption.

This exemption isn't exactly news. If I remember correctly, he had a period of time when he didn't have to report to avoid coattailers. So it's not an exemption, more like a delay. I don't remember how long he has before he has to announce his investments. And I think he does have to report to the SEC, just not make it public.

Buffet, like the rest of the investment banker pigmen, realized they could get ultra rich back in the late 70s early 80s by buying congress and getting laws changed so they could fleece the average citizen.

He is absolutely 100% not interested in any form of "free market capitalism", at least how the term is commonly used.

didn't he meet with officials at one point? I guess you can't prove anything unless they come forward, but if their was an understanding of bailout for GS and WFC no matter what, and he traded on that...that is not a "bet" or an "educated guess" but blatant insider trading at .gov expense. It's good to be rich in modern day america though, nobody will investigate or come forward if he did.

The Sphintcer of Omaha is a big supporter of the death tax too. He is a vulture who went after family businesses in distress because of the inheritance tax. He fought tooth and nail to keep the death tax on the books so he could loot the hard work of others. He's the ultimate pigman/crony capitalist.

My respect for him diminished when he said the CDS were financial weapons of destruction and a few years later he was investing in them.

However, one should not be surprised that the 'rich' get preferential and timely information and treatment than j6p.

Leona Hempsley woke me to this preferential treatment when she said, "only little people pay taxes.

J6p is just in this country to pay taxes and work at third world wages while living in a country where those wages buy one a shack, drive a hoopty, and work at the discretion of the employer.

Remember outsourcing of jobs was embraced to allow the businesses to make more profits but wasn't considered to be detrimental to the country at large, and also some of these companies were given tax cuts to outsource. Those legislators who supported this outsourcing need to be voted out of office.

People need to avoid as much as humanly possible all things Warren Buffett related. Hard to avoid when he is in so much and one must dig and dig to find out what all he owns and connected.

Rolfe Winkler put a stake in his well-done Omaha ass with this one too..................


http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/2....

..............

Liberty isn't free.

Warren Buffet is not and never has been an "everyman" type of guy, it is only a carefully crafted facade. The only investors in BRK are institutional types, the common man doesn't participate in stocks that rich. But because the guy has some sort of fetish with his original home (probably just a cheapo at heart) people think he is the "investor next door" and don't see what a total financial predator he really is.

Eel....good points.....Salomon Bros. also. I guess the real question is did he change when "once you amass a big amount of money"? Even if he has done nothing illegal, he has at a minimum crossed into the hypocrite stage. He shows no embarrassment at his frontrunning good fortune. My guess is he rationalizes his "fiduciary" duties to his stockholders (him) exceed the "public" responsibilities he so eloquently espoused in the past.

Well done, Karl. You framed it perfectly.

Inner Pigman, indeed. And I suspect all other appearances have been misrepresentations from the get-go.

KD,

I get your argument on this one but I have to disagree. First of all, I rather he lend the money to GS @ 10% than the govt at 4% or whatever it is. I mean sure he might of had a little inside info but whatever at least GS learned a damn lesson as opposed to getting free money. The GS treats them like a newborn baby and I can't stand that ****. Plus if you were assured a risk free return while helping someone from going under, wouldn't you take it?

I think 9.98 of 10 would

wco

a "little" inside info?

always have been suspicious of that old phart.

as one other old phart liked to state: "now you know the rest of the story"

Pigman or not, WB is one shrewd and crafty mofo. He knows how to game the system to his advantage. He "schooled" many of us here. We should have known he was going to make out. Riding his coattails would have banked us all some coin. My advice to anyone listening...if he says he's helping some other big-name company, I would suggest backing up the truck.

a "little" inside info?

>
>
You guys actually think that insider trading is like NOT the "norm" ?
Give me a break !!
Joe Kennedy was our first SEC chairman back in 1933, the biggest crook, what does that tell you ??
Hell, they even made a movie about it and how it's done.....WALL STREET.
Only reason Gordon GeKo was caught was that Bud Fox ratted him out.
In real life that would've NEVER happened since Bud would turn up floating in the Hudson River due to his "accidental" suicide.

We seem to have an oligarchy.