According to the Lincoln JournalStar, Warren Buffett said over the weekend and Monday he believes U.S. debt should still carry the top credit rating because the country won't have trouble paying off its long-term debt obligations.
Investors appeared to agree with their money on Monday, as the now downgraded debt of the United States traded at higher prices, lowering yields, in a rush away from stocks to Treasuries, still the preferred safe haven, despite the downgrade.
On Saturday, Buffett told Bloomberg Television's Betty Liu S&P made a mistake and the U.S. deserved a "quadruple A" rating. Buffett told CNBC Monday that he disagrees with Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade long-term U.S. debt. "If anything, it may change my opinion on S&P," said Buffett, who is chairman and CEO of Berkshire.
As one of the biggest shareholders in S&P's main competitor, Moody's Corp., with about 28 million shares, the billionaire has long urged people to make their own decisions about an investment's prospects without relying on credit rating agencies.
Buffett said at least $40 billion of Berkshire Hathaway's roughly $48 billion cash and equivalents is in U.S. Treasurys, and he wouldn't consider parking it anywhere else. S&P's downgrade doesn't apply to the shortest-term treasuries with maturities of less than a year, just longer term notes and bonds.
Read more at http://journalstar.com/business/local/article_5c3baf54-16de-5984-abc2-8ebaf5a8e34f.html
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