American Express challenges Apple for top slot in Berkshire portfolio

BECKY QUICK: Let’s talk a little bit about the fact that the market’s down almost 800 points this morning.

WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah.

BECKY QUICK: Concern for you?

WARREN BUFFETT: Well no, that’s good for us actually.

I mean we’re a net buyer of stocks over time. And just like being a net buyer of food, I expect to buy food the rest of my life, and I hope that food goes down in price tomorrow.

So, when stocks are down, no, we’re going to be buying, on balance. And who wouldn’t rather buy, you know, at a lower price than a higher price?

People are really strange on that. I mean they — most people, most of your listeners are savers and that means they’ll be net buyers and they should want the stock market to go down. They should want to buy at a lower price.

But they got that feeling that they just feel better when stocks are going up.

2) 6:03 AM ET

BECKY QUICK: When you’re looking at the futures down about 818 points this morning, I think probably the first thing viewers want to hear from you are your thoughts on what’s happening with the coronavirus, if this is a reason to panic, and if you are worried about this?

WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I don’t know I have any special thoughts beyond the news on the coronavirus…

If you’re buying a business, and that’s what stocks are, businesses — in fact, people will be better off if they say I bought a business today not a stock today, because that gives a different perspective on it — then presumably if you buy a farm, if you buy an apartment house, if you buy a business, you’re going to own it for 10 or 20 or 30 years.

And the real question is this — has the 10-year or 20-year outlook for American businesses changed in the last 24 hours or 48 hours?

And we’re going to — you’ll notice many of the businesses we own — partially own — American Express, we’ve owned it for 20 years; Coca-Cola, we’ve owned it for 40 years — but those our businesses. And you don’t buy or sell your business based on today’s headlines.

3) 6:05 AM ET

BECKY QUICK: But if I think that I can buy something for potentially 10% cheaper, maybe more than that, if I wait a week or a month, maybe that’s what I’m sitting around waiting for.

WARREN BUFFETT: Well, if you think that you’ve got — you’re going to get fabulously rich if you’re right (LAUGHS). All you have to do is just keep buying in 10-day intervals and keep making your 10-day prediction.

If I knew what the market was going to do, obviously —

But you don’t — I don’t think anybody knows what the market’s going to do.

I think you do know whether you’re making an intelligent purchase at a given price.

4) 6:07 AM ET

WARREN BUFFETT: You certainly can’t predict the market by reading the daily…