After the close of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Warren Buffett told reporters that he believes the threat of widespread financial turmoil arising from the credit crunch has passed. So says the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Mr. Buffett credited the Federal Reserve for helping to avert a more-widespread crisis on Wall Street by orchestrating a bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. that "prevented, in my opinion, the contagion where you're going to have runs on investment banks."
Bank losses "aren't over by a long shot, but a lot of it has already been recognized," he said, adding that the depth of the housing crisis, unemployment and other economic factors would help determine how long the write-downs continue.
"The idea of financial panic -- that has been pretty much taken care of," he said.
I can tell you that activity in the housing market in my area is picking up. It's not quite the buyer's market I thought it was, as I was recently outbid on a house I was hoping to buy.
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