By Jonathan Stempel and Carolina Mandl
OMAHA, USA (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Warren Buffett blasted Wall Street’s excesses on Saturday and, after spending tens of billions of dollars on stocks and companies in March, praised the virtue of keeping cash on hand as he introduced the Berkshire Hathaway’s first face-to-face meeting since 2019.
Buffett, 91, who is chairman and chief executive of Berkshire, and Vice President Charlie Munger, 98, answered questions at an arena in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Vice Presidents Greg Abel, Buffett’s designated successor as CEO, and Ajit Jain also joined them.
The meeting came after Berkshire revealed it had bought more than $51 billion worth of stock in the first quarter, including a much larger stake in Chevron Corp, and had now stopped buying back its own shares.
Berkshire also said operating profit was little changed in the first quarter as many companies managed to increase revenues despite disruptions to the supply chain caused by the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Buffett lamented in his annual letter to shareholders in February the lack of investment opportunities. That prompted one shareholder to ask what changed in March, when Berkshire bought 14.6% of Occidental Petroleum Corp and agreed to pay $11.6 billion for insurance company Alleghany Corp. Buffett said it was simple: He became interested in Occidental after reading an analyst report, and in Alleghany after its chief executive wrote to him. “Markets do crazy things and occasionally Berkshire gets a chance to do something,” he said. “It’s not because we’re smart… I think we’re sane.” Berkshire’s cash holding fell to about $106 billion from nearly $147 billion in the quarter, but Buffett said it’s important to keep enough cash on hand. “We will always have lots of money,” he said. “It’s like oxygen, it’s there all the time, but if it disappears for a few minutes, it’s all over.”
Buffett also picked a favorite target, Wall Street, saying the stock market sometimes resembles a casino or gambling partner.
“It has existed to an extraordinary degree in the last couple of years, encouraged by Wall Street,” he said.
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