OMAHA, Nebraska - Warren Buffett criticized the government's stress tests of 19 large U.S. banks, and said he would buy more shares of three big banks in the portfolio of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
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Buffett also told reporters on Sunday that Berkshire, which generates about half its business from insurance, would consider writing policies to insure against a potential swine flu pandemic if it got paid enough.
Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger spoke a day after Berkshire's annual meeting, which brought 35,000 shareholders to Omaha to hear the two field questions on the company, the economy, and other matters. The weekend is known as Woodstock for Capitalists.
Three Berkshire holdings, Wells Fargo & Co, U.S. Bancorp and SunTrust Banks Inc are among 19 large U.S. banks the federal government is stress testing to gauge whether they need more capital to survive a deep recession.
Buffett said Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, and a third Berkshire holding, M&T Bank Corp, do not need more equity capital, and "we would buy stock in any of the three banks at present prices." He expressed no opinion on SunTrust's capital needs. M&T is not being tested.
Buffett said the government is taking the wrong approach in assessing banks by ignoring differences in lenders' business models.
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