Let's be honest, it's not smart, it's special privilege. You really think if they held an auction on these, noone else would bite? Seriously, these special arrangement investments would sell like hotcakes and fetch a better price. Wealthy investors would do it for 8-9%, if not 7% dividend. Buffett got a special deal and it's relatively risk free, since you can bet your ass the government will bail him out if anything. Look at this more critically, he is privileged and is getting something at the expense of common stock shareholders and taxpayers. Not rocket science, just plain old nepotism, cronyism & feudalism.
Which run on oil. Ever look into who was supplying Hitler with oil? More than one company, but the largest chunk came from a well known American company whose remnants nowdays are Chevron and Exxon. Funny how as soon as that company was cut off from trading with the enemy, Hitler's army went downhill and fast. The rabbit hole goes much deeper. Like who really built Hitler's war machine. And what those companies are now, part of the Dow Jones index. Ever wonder what the first computer did? Stored records on Jewish prisoners for the Nazi army. I'm sure you can guess who made it.
It's hilarious to read posts written by bitter losers on ET who bash Buffett because they can't take someone being as successful as he's been. The reason he got the deals with GS and GE is because of the credibility he gives those companies by investing with them. Why? Because he's the greatest investor in history. Period. You do as well and you'll get the same "privilege." Here's where Buffett's "privilege" comes from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1ENJ23GR8
Yes, you are right. You or I don't have access to this deal. Special privilege describes it perfectly.
You forgetting that we had Atomic Weapons at the end of the war. We could have easily prevented Russia from taking Eastern Europe. Any war against Russia to drive them out would be over within 2 weeks after we nuked Moscow. Biography channel showed a 6 hour special on FDR twice about 6 months ago. I don't even know what the American Heritage Foundation is. Hitler lost the war because he was inept as a military commander. Had he left the war up to his Military and not attacked Russian they would have been able to sue for peace unless we used the Nukes on Berlin first. John
Wrong. It's earned privilege, not special privilege. You and anaconda wouldn't get the deal because your investing in GS and GE wouldn't give them any credibility. Probably the opposite.
Trade war fears as subsidies restored European export subsidies are stirring fears of a trade war with echoes of the 1930s protectionism that sparked the Great Depression. The European Union this week re-introduces so called "export refunds" for butter, cheese, whole and skimmed milk powder that had been suspended since June 2007. Federated Farmers economics and commerce spokesperson Philip York said the move by the EU could create tit-for-tat actions on both sides of the Atlantic. In an agricultural trade war New Zealand would be a big loser. "People need to be reminded that the 1929 sharemarket crash didn't directly create the Great Depression but politicians did," York said. "Protectionist legislation, like America's infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, became a template for protectionism copied around the world. "Maybe we need to send all Euro MPs and their eurocrats some history books."