Warren Buffett Defends Goldman Sachs, says Economy Rebounding

One day I looked at the amount of money my bank was paying in interest and thought it was a joke!

So 3 years ago I started buying stocks through an on-line broker. And the money I get paid in dividends is greater by far from just letting my money sit in a savings account at 0.25%

I’ve read books on Value Investing of which Warren Buffet is a huge proponent. Today, I’m a small investor with a better control of my financial future.

Am I a Fat Cat?

Not even close. But, I'm definitely in the investor class that believes in making my money worker harder for me and my family. That's why America is so great because I have the freedom to do this and not expect Obama government to do it for me while I sit on my butt and ask for more.

And you could do the same!


From The New York Post:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffett today defended Goldman Sachs Group, as he announced Berkshire recorded a first-quarter profit of $3.6 billion, compared with a net loss of $1.5 billion a year earlier, as the global economy improved.

Buffett, who invested $5 billion in Goldman at the height of the financial crisis, also came to the defense of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in hard-hitting comments at the annual meeting of Berkshire investors in Omaha, Neb.

He said there has been "misreporting" on the nature of the Abacus deal at the center of an Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the firm. Buffett said the Abacus deal is no different from a standard bond-insurance transaction and shouldn't reflect poorly on Goldman.

Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who said this week that Goldman was engaged in "socially undesirable" activities, told shareholders that he would have voted against SEC prosecution.

Buffett also said the company's results show that the global economy is showing significant signs of recovery for the first time.

Operating profit was $2.2 billion, reversing a year-ago loss of $3.2 billion, he said. Individual units showed significant signs of improvement in March, after slight gains in prior months, he said.

"What was sort of a sputtering recovery months ago seemed to pick up steam in March and April," Buffett said. "We're seeing a pretty good uptick."

Buffett's pronouncements on the economy are studied by investors large and small, and the Berkshire units he's acquired over four decades give him a unique perspective.
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Via New York Post The Last Tradition

Tiger Woods Missing Cut at Quail Hollow

Tiger can only handle 36 holes this week.



Tiger Woods recently admitted to screwing 121 women during his marriage. With all that hole hopping, it didn’t seem to bother his golf any.

Maybe since his supply of hoochies has been cut off, will Tiger ever be the same golfer?

I'm just saying...

From TMZ:

Tiger Woods just concluded one of the worst performances of his professional career -- and was officially eliminated from the Quail Hollow Championship after missing the cut by a mile.

Just to put this in perspective, Tiger went from 1997 to 2005 without missing one single cut in any of the tournaments he played in ... and in 2007, Tiger WON the Quail Hollow tourney.

The Last Tradition

Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico Much Worse Than Reported

Darkest day of oil nightmare!


I’m glad to hear that President Obama still believes that Domestic Oil Drilling is still an important of the country’s overall strategy for energy security.

Obama is dead on right on this issue and I fully support his position. Mark it down folks that I agree with the president because this won’t happen much again.

From The New York Post:

The disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill pushed into the Mississippi River Delta yesterday with high winds and rough seas complicating efforts to slow the toxic sludge's spread, as the first oil-slicked animals were found amid fears of an environmental nightmare.

Experts prepared for the worst as choppy seas threatened to force the goop deep into the marshlands along Louisiana's southern coast over the weekend and push oily water over the booms put in place to contain it.

"It's of grave concern," said David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling."

Among the developments yesterday:
* President Obama put all new offshore oil leases on hold for 30 days until safeguards are put in place, but indicated he did not plan to flip-flop on a drilling moratorium he recently lifted in other areas.

* Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said those responsible for the disaster -- which could surpass the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill as the worst in US history -- would be held accountable. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the federal government will continue to push BP -- the oil company that owned the rig -- for a strong response.

* In February 2009, BP wrote a report saying that an accident was "unlikely" to happen at the destroyed platform. Critics called it evidence the company wasn't prepared for the catastrophe.

* The governors of Louisiana and Florida declared states of emergency, mobilizing the National Guard as the oil made landfall. Massive military cargo planes were set to dump oil-dispersing chemicals on the spill.

* The first oil-coated bird -- a young northern gannet -- was saved and brought into an animal-rescue facility where its blackened wings were scrubbed with soap. Experts said the slick could devastate the Gulf's dolphin population, many of whom are giving birth now, and wipe out the endangered Kemp's Ridley turtle.

* BP began using underwater chemicals to break up the oil before it reaches the surface.

* Experts estimated the cleanup could cost $3 billion or more.

So far, 1.6 million gallons of oil have been released into the sea.

Officials say more than 5,000 barrels -- or 200,000 gallons -- of oil a day were continuing to bubble from a well beneath the Gulf that was ripped open following the explosion of an offshore oil rig on April 20 that killed 11 workers. But some industry experts said the spill could be even five times larger than those estimates.
Full story

Via New York Post


The Last Tradition