Warren Buffett stated that his company Berkshire Hathaway is benefiting from the unexpectedly strong performance of the U.S. economy at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, although investor enthusiasm makes it difficult to utilize liquidity. He added during the company's annual meeting on Saturday that the economy has "effectively and exceptionally rebounded" thanks to monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve and fiscal stimulus from the U.S. Congress. Buffett noted, "This has accomplished the task... 85% of the economy is currently operating at maximum speed."
He complained that the influx of so-called special purpose acquisition companies and inexperienced investors hoping for quick gains has made the market feel like a gambling club, creating difficulties for Berkshire to utilize its massive liquidity of $145.4 billion. However, Buffett (90 years old) remained optimistic about the future of the company he has managed since 1965, even after his departure. He said, "We’ve seen strange things happening in the world in the last fifteen months. This has strengthened our desire to envision everything that can be done to ensure that Berkshire remains the same entity it is today in 50 or 100 years."
The annual meeting took place in Los Angeles, where Buffett joined Vice Chairman Charlie Munger (97 years old) in answering shareholders' questions for more than three hours. The Saturday meeting followed Berkshire announcing a 20% increase in operating profits for the first quarter of the year to about $7 billion, while net profit, including investments, reached $11.7 billion.
