* Buffett says he is ‘salivating’ for more M&A;
* Says Asia decline faster than Europe
* Endorses Bernanke for another Fed term
Oct 24 (Reuters) – Warren Buffett sees clear signs that the
global economy is slowing, although the U.S. economy is “inching
ahead” as other regions decline, the Berkshire Hathaway
chief executive officer said on Wednesday.
Yet despite the weakness, Buffett said he was “salivating”
to make another major acquisition, adding that two deals of
around $20 billion each had fallen through this year.
In an interview on CNBC, Buffett said the rate of decline
was larger in Asia than in Europe, although the Asian economies
are declining off a higher base.
At the same time, he said Berkshire’s U.S. housing-related
businesses were growing at double-digit percentage rates of
late.
Buffett has maintained that the economy will not truly start
to turn around until the housing market improves, and he said
Wednesday that housing had clearly started to turn.
Berkshire is heavily exposed to housing construction, as it
owns a brick maker, a carpet maker, a realtor and the largest
builder of manufactured homes.
Yet even with growth from its existing portfolio companies,
Berkshire is always on the hunt to expand by acquisition.
Buffett told CNBC: “I’m salivating” to spend some of
Berkshire’s $40 billion cash pile on a deal. At Berkshire’s
annual meeting in May, he said a $20 billion deal had recently
fallen through, and on Wednesday he acknowledged a second one
had come apart as well.
He did not give any indication as to what kinds of companies
were involved.
In a wide-ranging interview from an event in Ohio, Buffett
also said the best thing for the economy would be for U.S.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to stay on for a third
term.
With the presidential race running neck-and-neck, there has
been speculation of late that Republican candidate Mitt Romney,
if elected, would seek a new Fed chairman when Bernanke’s term
expires in 2014. Buffett disagreed with the idea.
“I would vote for Bernanke again, and I’d get my kids out
and everybody else to vote for him,” he said.
