The Oracle weighs inRTGAMWarren Buffett to the rescue! Not only did the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agree to fund Goldman Sachs Group Inc. by buying 5-billion (U.S.) worth of preferred shares - and restoring some confidence in at least one corner of the U.S. financial system -
Mr. Buffett also said on Wednesday morning that he supported the U.S. government's contentious $700-billion rescue package.In an interview on CNBC,
Mr. Buffett said that the bailout plan was akin to the U.S. decision to go to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and also warned that the past week will "look like Nirvana" if the plan is not approved by Congress. He did warn, however, that the government shouldn't pay much more than the market price for the illiquid assets it plans to buy from troubled financial firms.
U.S. stock futures were higher on Wednesday morning with about an hour before markets open, suggesting stocks will rise at the start.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 89 points, to 10,943. Futures for the broader S&P 500 rose 13 points, to 1200. Goldman Sachs rose to $131.40, up $6.35.In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent and Germany's DAX index fell 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading, after a reading on business confidence in the three largest European economies fell more than expected. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent in overnight trading.Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail