Warren Buffett’s tease: Am I buying Wells Fargo, or AmEx?
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Warren Buffett has helped give a nice lift to shares of Wells Fargo & Co. and American Express Co. today by telling CNBC that he has recently been adding to his stake in one of the two companies -- though he wouldn’t say which one.
Good way to get a portfolio two-fer, Mr. B! Wells shares were up $1.09, or 3.8%, to $29.53 at about 11:45 a.m. PDT; AmEx was up $1.56, or 4.2%, to $38.57.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was the largest holder of Wells Fargo at June 30, with an 8.8% stake, and also the largest holder of AmEx, with 13.1%.
Buffett also confirmed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac know how rich he is: Both companies have approached him about helping to shore up their finances, but he said he passed.
The mortgage giants have reached the end of the line as independent companies, Buffett said.
‘They’re looking for help, obviously. And the scale of help is such that I don’t think it can come from the private sector,’ he said. ‘The game is over.’
Not that Buffett was saying anything that hasn’t already been said about Fannie and Freddie, but the stocks are down again today, anyway. Freddie was off 26 cents to $2.90; Fannie was down 2 cents to $4.83.
One more Buffett item: Speaking in Omaha on Thursday at an event promoting the documentary film ‘I.O.U.S.A.’ -- which paints a dire picture of the federal government’s ever-rising debt load and the implications for the U.S. economy -- Buffett actually was a bit dismissive of the film’s central theme.
‘There is no question that the people in this audience, their children will live better than they do and their grandchildren will live better than their children -- I mean, this is a marvelous economy,’ he said. ‘It has not paid to sell American short since 1776 and the time to start is not 2008.’ Read more here.