Buffett Not Surprised S&P Downgraded Rating Outlook for Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett spoke with FBN’s Liz Claman in reaction to the news that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has revised Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A) rating outlook from stable to negative. Buffett said S&P is “doing that to all the insurance companies. They said they’d do that last week.” He went to say it is the S&P’s job to “say whether bond instruments will be fulfilled, and they will be fulfilled… people confuse ability of the U.S. to pay debt obligations in dollars vs. what the dollar is actually worth.” Excerpts from the interview can be found below, courtesy of Fox Business Network.

On S&P revising Berkshire Hathaway’s rating outlook from stable to negative:
“They’re doing that to all the insurance companies. They said they’d do that last week.”

On whether he is surprised that S&P based their downgrade of U.S. credit in part on ‘political’ discourse:
“Their [S&P] job is to say whether bond instruments will be fulfilled, and they will be fulfilled… people confuse ability of the U.S. to pay debt obligations in dollars vs. what the dollar is actually worth.”

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