Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

[bobola]

"No," Buffett said, responding to a question from panel Chairman Phil Angelides about a McClatchy Newspapers report earlier this year that two senior Moody's officials had warned Buffett about complex bonds backed by junk U.S. mortgages. He also said he had no idea how Moody's rated bonds.

"I've never been in Moody's. I don't even know where they're located," Buffett said.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._moodys03.html

[FrankL]

Re: Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

"No," Buffett said, responding to a question from panel Chairman Phil Angelides about a McClatchy Newspapers report earlier this year that two senior Moody's officials had warned Buffett about complex bonds backed by junk U.S. mortgages. He also said he had no idea how Moody's rated bonds.

"I've never been in Moody's. I don't even know where they're located," Buffett said.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._moodys03.html

did Warren Buffet ever not do his homework? Or is this just an attempt to appear clueless on something that he might have profited off or been involved in causing?

[BigBagel]

Re: Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

I'm reading The Big Short by Michael Lewis right now. He details how Moodys got gamed and let themselves get gamed by the big investment banks. It was like mugging an old lady. This firm belongs in the dustbin of history.

[c1ue]

Re: Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

We should not forget that Sir Warren is not an altruist.

His involvement in (and defense) of the ratings agencies is no different than his behavior with Salomon brothers decades ago in the junk bond era.

Never forget that he also has an agenda; he is simply more straightforward about his somewhat different goals than the typical FIRE oligarch.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

We should not forget that Sir Warren is not an altruist.

His involvement in (and defense) of the ratings agencies is no different than his behavior with Salomon brothers decades ago in the junk bond era.

Never forget that he also has an agenda; he is simply more straightforward about his somewhat different goals than the typical FIRE oligarch.

Good point. Warren cultivates the public image of a simple, "aww-shucks" grandpa from Nebraska, who runs on good intentions and simple common sense. That image has served him well.

It would be tougher for him to operate viewed as a ruthless financial predator and take over artist controlling a vast network of global FIRE businesses. He'd rather talk about owning Dairy Queen ice cream and Benjamin Moore paint than Nike's child labor problems, how Moody's ratings crashed the world, or how General Re works.

I suspect that if we could get Scooby Doo to pull off Warren’s rubber mask of sheriff Andy Taylor we might see revealed the face of Gordon Gekko.

[c1ue]

Re: Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

I suspect that if we could get Scooby Doo to pull off Warren’s rubber mask of sheriff Andy Taylor we might see revealed the face of Gordon Gekko.

I personally don't see Sir Warren as a disguised Gordon Gekko. He simply is tunnel visioned towards making Berkshire Hathaway as successful as it can be.

But equally one should not take his public pronouncements such as his statements on unfair relative taxation between workers and managers as meaning he is some Progressive.

For one thing - he admires and respect Bill Gates. This clearly indicates that he doesn't consider unregulated monopolies a bad thing even though objectively they almost always are.

This is not the same as being Gordon Gekko or a bankster like GS - screwing anyone out of the last buck for sheer perversity.

[BigBagel]

Re: Has Warren Buffett stopped doing his homework..??

I suspect that if we could get Scooby Doo to pull off Warren’s rubber mask of sheriff Andy Taylor we might see revealed the face of Gordon Gekko.

Not the GEICO gecko? Berkshire owns GEICO.