As published in the Guardian, Warren Buffet is spot on. Let's get on with it. Little has been published about the money made by the Treasury on the Chrysler and S&L bailouts. My estimate, between AIG and the $700 billion rescue plan, the US Treasury will make somewhere north of $300 billion, which should make a dent in our deficit, stabilize the markets and restore a much needed confidence.
The Nebraska-based billionaire, whose fortune is estimated at $62bn, threw his weight wholeheartedly behind Henry Paulson's rescue package for Wall Street, arguing that US industry will "grind to a halt" without action.
"Last week, we were at the brink of something that would have made anything that's happened in financial history pale," Buffett told CNBC television. "I'm not saying the Paulson plan will eliminate the problems but it's absolutely necessary, in my view, to avoid going off the precipice."
Buffett, whose opinions are hugely influential among millions of private investors in the US, said that if the Treasury acts shrewdly by buying banks' distressed assets at a competitive price, taxpayers will end up as financial winners.
"I bet they'll make a profit," said Buffett, who pointed out that hedge funds specialising in junk assets were already picking up mortgage-related securities with a view to making profits of 15% to 20%. He said a positive return was feasible if the government ignores the book value of instruments or the original cost to banks and instead pays the prevailing market rates for the bombed out assets.
"They'll pay back the $700bn and make a considerable amount of money if they approach it like that," said Buffett. "I would love to have $700bn at Treasury rates to buy fixed-income securities - there's a lot of money to be made."
Buffett's $5bn investment in Goldman Sachs' preferred stock was matched by a further $5bn capital raising yesterday as the bank took the opportunity to bolster its balance sheet. Goldman's shares, which fell as low as $86 last week, rose by 2% to $127.88 during early trading in New York.
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Your thinking on this subject is very sound as is that of the "Oracle of Omaha." Sometimes it takes money to make money. The purchase of AIG will eventually make millions of dollars for the American taxpayers. We still need Congress to reign in their wreckless spending on gravy train pet projects. American business inginuity will prevail.
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