"Almost nothing can stop the US"
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was confident this Saturday of a recovery in the US economy from the coronavirus crisis, stressing that "basically nothing can stop the United States."
"The American miracle, American magic, has always prevailed and will do so again," Buffett defended before launching into a long historical review of the vicissitudes of the country and how its economy has re-emerged each time.
The veteran investor opened with his optimistic message the annual meeting of his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, an appointment that the markets always follow with great attention to know the usually accurate predictions of Buffett, which have earned him to be known as the "Omaha oracle" .
On this occasion, the usually crowded meeting, which, with the fame gained in recent years, has begun to be nicknamed the "Woodstock of the capitalists", was held by videoconference due to the pandemic.
In his speech, Buffett stressed that the coronavirus poses a difficult situation to evaluate, with an economic impact that can still fluctuate a lot given the slowdown in activity, something that has no parallels in history and that poses a situation very different from the crisis. from 2008.
In any case, he insisted that if there is a lesson that can be drawn from previous difficulties, from the American civil war to the Great Depression and other events, it is that "you should never bet against the United States."
"And that is still true now," stressed Buffett, whose company announced losses of nearly $ 50 billion in the first quarter of the year a few hours earlier, with its investments hit hard by the crash the pandemic has caused in the markets.
The figures contrast with the net profit of 21,661 million dollars that the company based in Omaha (Nebraska) had registered in the same period of the previous year.
Berkshire Hathaway's accounts have been especially volatile since 2018 due to an accounting standard that came into force at that time and that requires the change in the value of shares held by it, which given the enormous portfolio of the Buffett fund causes large movements in function of the direction of the markets.
The 89-year-old billionaire, known for knowing how to take advantage of moments of crisis to gain new business and investments, has so far maintained a conservative stance in the current situation, maintaining record levels of cash in the box instead of opting for large operations.
In this regard, he explained that although one may want to bet on the US economy, it is necessary to do it carefully, because "nobody ever knows what will happen tomorrow in the market."
