Buffett Suggests Economy Will Rise Like 'a Terrific Athlete'

[IDemo]

By BIANNA GOLODRYGA
OMAHA, Neb., May 2, 2009

The economy may have suffered a huge jolt, but "when gets going again, he'll be setting tremendous records. That patient is a terrific athlete," famed investor Warren Buffett told ABC News today.

All recessions are a jolt to the economic system, but "this one was a real shake. It really shook up the confidence of the American public," the Berkshire Hathaway CEO told ABC News. "We know that it will be over, but we can't predict the timing."

Credit Rating Downgrade 'Irritates Me'

Buffett gave his first one-on-one interview to ABC News after telling a record crowd of 35,000 at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting that he took the company's recent ratings downgrade as a personal blow.

Berkshire has taken a hit this year and last, the worst year under Buffett's leadership. The company was recently downgraded from its AAA credit rating to AA, according to Moody's Investors Service. S&P, another ratings service, did not downgrade Berkshire.

[MADem]

1. I think he's right. It's going to be bad for awhile, but we'll pull through. NT

[Sheets of Easter]

2. What if that terrific athlete is Vinko Bogataj?

[OmahaBlueDog]

3. Buffett tends to be right

He also doesn't tend to take trendy, flavor-of-the-week advice.

I don't agree with all of his decisions. For example, I wish Berkshire would be more circumspect about their investments in China.

[pscot]

5. I think he's living in the past

This is not your father's economy.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. I heard that during the dot.com boom and the housing boom

The fundamentals still tend to apply.

[pscot]

10. That's what I'm afraid of

I've been watching this show for a very long time, and always, in the past, betting against the U.S. economy was a sure loser. But this feels different. Buffet is a very smart guy, and I hope he's right, but this isn't 1982. The world has changed, and not in a good way. The wells are going dry. The mother lode seems played out. This is a tired, crowded and frightened age we're entering. Keep your powder dry.

[Joe the Revelator]

13. I'm going to go with the Oracle of Omaha over your "feeling"

yeah, i'll do that all day.

[pscot]

16. Fine. I got out

early last year, while most Berkshire Hathaway holders rode the tobaggan all the way to the bottom of the hill. The Oracle of Omaha has an obligation to talk up the markets. I don't.

[Double T]

9. Damn right.

This IS your grandfather's economy and actually it will be much worse. Buffet can't stand the reality his companies face.

[mdmc]

4. like mike tyson

[cliffordu]

7. SO: Are we going to actually build stuff to turn it around or are we going to

rely on three card monty financial "products" like the ones the grifters on wall street just used to fleece the world???

[BeyondGeography]

8. Our economy has been going sideways for at least a decade

with growth fuelled by tech and housing bubbles, debt and ephemeral paper wealth, like a "terrific athlete" whose stats were inflated by steroids. Nothing to be excited about, if that's all we're recreating.

[girl gone mad]

11. Never take investment advice from a billionaire.

Buffet can afford to wait out a bad economy for decades.

[Joe the Revelator]

14. The man is pushing 80. I don't think he has decades to play with

[thunder rising]

12. Funny Buffet didn't warn the world about Credit Default Swaps breaking all the banks

I suppose he wasn't "in" on that little swindle.

[KillCapitalism]

15. He could be right.

One thing you can guarantee is that it will be another jobless recovery.