BUFFETT CALLS ON INVESTORS TO BET ON AMERICA

Billionaire Warren Buffett encouraged investors to maintain their faith in America’s economy and the businesses his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate owns in a reassuring letter to his shareholders Saturday.

Buffett hardly even addressed the coronavirus pandemic that ravaged many businesses last year, instead focusing on the long-term prospects for the railroad, utility and insurance businesses and stocks that belong to Berkshire Hathaway. But he said U.S. business will thrive over time in spite of the pandemic.

“In its brief 232 years of existence, however, there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America. Despite some severe interruptions, our country’s economic progress has been breathtaking,” Buffett wrote.

Buffett’s annual letter is always well read in the business world because of his remarkably successful track record and his knack for explaining complicated subjects in simple terms.

But he didn’t offer much explanation for why Berkshire hasn’t made a major acquisition in several years or discuss the company’s recent major new investments in Verizon Communications and Chevron, leaving many investors wanting more.

“The one thing that caught my eye about the letter was sort of what it didn’t have,” CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said. “I think what was notable was the fact that given everything that’s gone on in this country from the pandemic to all the social unrest to the social inflation and climate change that’s impacting the insurance industry. It was striking to me that none of that was mentioned in the letter.”