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Corporate America not trusted by American public

A

Anonymous

Guest
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Named 'Most Admired' U.S. Company
Monday, 05 Apr 2010 08:42 AM

Everybody loves Warren Buffett.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — the investment vehicle run by Buffett, the so-called sage of Omaha — topped a list of the best-regarded U.S. companies, although the public has a dim view of corporate America overall after a brutal economic downturn.

After a recession that prompted the U.S. government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on corporate bailouts, 81 percent of Americans told Harris Interactive that business's reputation is "not good" or "terrible."

That marked a slight improvement from last year, when 88 percent took that view and was the second-worst rating since Harris began asking that question in 2002.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
This survey seems to show the public's distaste for Government involvement. Just another reminder that the public respects a free market economy. Looks like Conservatism is spreading :D :D

Effective management drove public perception, evidenced by the rise of Ford Motor Co <F.N> — the one U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and bailout — which rose to 37th among the 60 most visible U.S. companies, up from 51st a year earlier. The rankings were provided to Reuters a day before their official release on Monday.

The five companies with the worst reputations were Freddie Mac <FRE.N>, American International Group Inc <AIG.N>, Fannie Mae <FNM.N>, Citigroup Inc <C.N> and Goldman Sachs Group Inc

Freddie Mac, a government-controlled entity that is the No. 2 U.S. provider of funds for home mortgages, had the worst reputation since Enron Corp, which infamously collapsed amid an accounting scandal.

http://blogs.reuters.com/scott-malone/2010/04/04/buffetts-berkshire-is-best-regarded-u-s-company/
 

TSR

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Named 'Most Admired' U.S. Company
Monday, 05 Apr 2010 08:42 AM

Everybody loves Warren Buffett.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — the investment vehicle run by Buffett, the so-called sage of Omaha — topped a list of the best-regarded U.S. companies, although the public has a dim view of corporate America overall after a brutal economic downturn.

After a recession that prompted the U.S. government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on corporate bailouts, 81 percent of Americans told Harris Interactive that business's reputation is "not good" or "terrible."

That marked a slight improvement from last year, when 88 percent took that view and was the second-worst rating since Harris began asking that question in 2002.

Imagine that! :shock: Just this weekend on a news talk show they were talking about this very thing- how the public distrusted corporate America.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Corporate America is an absolute necessity. We cannot deny those who wish to pool their savings and resources to form corporations for profit.

What needs to happen is "Corporate Income Tax" should be abolished.

Wealth should not be punished................. but encouraged.

Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of modern industrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mischief to the entire body politic. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.
T. Roosevelt
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
I wonder if Sheriff Krupt has any BH stock. ANY.

I also wonder, should he own any, has he ever attended that annual stockholders meeting.

Market up or market down, there is more enthusiasm at those meetings than at any Husker game, and that is saying a LOT.

It seems the Sheriff of Nottingham has a real problem with corporations, especially those that are profitable.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Named 'Most Admired' U.S. Company
Monday, 05 Apr 2010 08:42 AM

Everybody loves Warren Buffett.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — the investment vehicle run by Buffett, the so-called sage of Omaha — topped a list of the best-regarded U.S. companies, although the public has a dim view of corporate America overall after a brutal economic downturn.

After a recession that prompted the U.S. government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on corporate bailouts, 81 percent of Americans told Harris Interactive that business's reputation is "not good" or "terrible."

That marked a slight improvement from last year, when 88 percent took that view and was the second-worst rating since Harris began asking that question in 2002.


The world's third richest man, Warren Buffett, today declared that he saw nothing wrong in an allegedly fraudulent $1bn mortgage deal by Goldman Sachs and suggested that losers in the transaction, including Royal Bank of Scotland, had only themselves to blame for exercising "dumb" judgment.

After weeks of silence on the subject, Buffett delivered a valuable endorsement to the embattled Wall Street bank at Saturday's annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway business empire in Nebraska. The 79-year-old billionaire said he "loved" his own $5bn investment in Goldman and offered "100%" support to the bank's chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein.

"I do not hold against Goldman at all the fact that an allegation has been made by the Securities and Exchange Commission," Buffett told a gathering of 40,000 of his followers at Omaha's cavernous QWest sports stadium. But if fraud charges were proven, he added, "it's something more serious and we'd look at that at the time".

A long-term customer of Goldman, Buffett has enlisted the bank's help in buying scores of businesses. At the height of the financial crisis in September 2008, he lent $5bn to Goldman – a loan that yields annual income of $500m for Berkshire Hathaway, at a rate of $15 a second.

"We love the investment," said Buffett, who accepted that the SEC's charges had damaged Goldman's reputation. "There's no question the allegation alone causes the company to lose reputation. Obviously, the past few weeks have hurt the company and hurt morale."

The SEC's case against Goldman centres on a 2007 mortgage derivatives deal named Abacus, struck by Fabrice Tourre, a banker now based in London. The SEC contends that Tourre failed to inform participants about the extent of involvement of a hedge fund, Paulson & Co, that had a short position betting on Abacus's failure.

Within nine months, more than 99% of the mortgages referenced by Abacus were in default, leaving Royal Bank of Scotland's Dutch subsidiary, ABN Amro, with an $840m bill as it had insured the derivative against failure.

Buffett was scornful of this loss, pointing out that ABN voluntarily agreed to insure Abacus for a fee of $1.6m. "It's a little hard for me to get terribly sympathetic with the fact that a bank made a dumb credit deal."

The billionaire, who is known as the "sage of Omaha", described Goldman's chief executive as "smart" and "high grade" and brushed aside a question about who could replace him: "If Lloyd had a twin brother, I would vote for him. I've never given it a thought."

Buffett's annual meeting entails a vast influx of people into his modestly proportioned home town. Omaha's Eppley airport said it was expecting arrivals from 100 private jets on Friday, 15 times more than usual.

Buffett and his business partner, Charlie Munger, spend a day each year dispensing pearls of folksy wisdom in response to investors' questions. Front-row spectators include Bill Gates, a close friend and associate of Buffett.

Early in the meeting, Buffett offered thoughts on the impact of Greece's financial crisis on the euro. He described the economic meltdown in Athens as a test case in what happened when a nation made promises to its citizens while it lacked the power to print its own money.

Buffett predicted "high drama" in the eurozone, saying: "I don't know how this movie ends. That doesn't mean I'm forecasting disasters. But I try not go to movies like that."

With a collection of businesses varying from Dairy Queen cafes to Geico insurance and Fruit of the Loom underwear, Buffett's personal fortune is estimated at $47bn. He is ranked by Forbes magazine as the world's third richest man, behind the Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim and Microsoft's Bill Gates.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/01/warren-buffett-defends-goldman-sachs
 
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