Buffett’s Big Chill

The NY Post reports that there appears to be a cool breeze blowing across what once was a warm Warren Buffett-President Obama friendship.  Exhibit A is the unusually hostile tack Buffett took with the Obama administration this week when he asked a judge to allow an independent probe of the deals worked out between the government-owned Ally Financial and its bankrupt ResCap unit.

The deals had been OK’d by Obama’s Treasury Department.  But Buffett’s request was tossed aside yesterday when Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn ruled in favor of a competing request — from ResCap’s creditors’ committee.  The committee wants to look at the deals. Buffett presumably believes that fellow unsecured committee members, like monoline insurers who have reached settlements with ResCap, are biased and wanted a second probe.

ResCap seeks to release Ally from claims.

“The fact [Judge Glenn] approved the committee today was quite bad for Buffett,” a source close to the case said.“I would have to imagine the probability of him getting an independent examiner just fell.” A second source close to the case said, “The judge just basically told Buffett to take a hike.”

Read more:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/the_chill_is_on_hCgOX8XvhChBwuu962NEhJ