Re: Buffett Interview
[ QUOTE ]
I'm surprised he said "if it went down a lot I’d buy it back" because he's always been so hush hush about his position for obvious reasons.
[/ QUOTE ]
Petrochina activists have been trying to get him to sell for years, and it culminated in a vote at this years shareholder meeting, a vote Buffett authorized and the activists lost in a landslide. They also put a billboard in Omaha urging him to sell. They are now claiming responsibility for Buffett selling. This is his response to that, and his point about buying it back is to show the activists had no affect on his decision. I believe him, not only did he buy it when very cheap and is selling when it is more fully valued, but Buffett admits his mistakes. If he suddenly realised the activists were right he"d offer his support publicly.
His comment about not looking at the stock price before reading the report shows how aware he is of unconscious biases and strives to limit them. We all have them, and should do the same. A petrochina activist would say I am biased to believe Buffett because of my personal admiration for him, and they would be right that I am biased, but wrong in that I have rational reasons to believe him. When I was a boy I believed Nixon because of my bias, not because he had a great track record of honesty.
|