Warren Buffett To The Resuce! Warren Buffett Plan To Bail Out Muni Insurance.jpgHe's Warren Buffett, and he's here to help. This morning Buffett revealed on CNBC's Squawk Box that he's extended an offer to tottering bond insurers to provide re-insurance of on up to $800 billion in municipal bonds. The offer does not, of course, cover the more complicated derivative instruments that have been the source of so much profit and trouble for the bond insurers. Speaking on the phone with CNBC's Ancient Billionaire Correspondent Becky Quick, the Oracle of Omaha, said Berkshire Hathaway a week ago made the reinsurance offer to bond insurers Ambac, MBIA and FGIC. One firm has already rejected his offer to insure the safest part of their business. We're guessing that's MBIA, which is newly flush with Warburg Pincus cash. The other two haven't returned his calls are still considering the offer. The offer is ticking: he gave them 30 days to respond. Buffett's plan would likely insure ensure that the covered municipal bonds would not be affected by a downgrade in the ratings of MBIA, Ambac or FGIC. According to Buffett, the trouble with the bond insurers is producing strange price discrepancies, with some uninsured bonds trading above insured bonds. "Essentially, they've already lost their triple A. They're trading as if they had lost it," Buffett said. "In the market the triple A has gone away a long time ago." Shares of these insurance companies will initially spike on the news, although by satisfying some of the concerns of government insurance regulators it could wind up contributing to the demise of a industry-wide bailout plan. In short, this "bailout" could spell the end of the insurers if the CDO situation gets bad enough. Buffett noted that the CDO exposure for these companies would not be covered, adding that "we can't figure it out" when asked about the extent of that exposure. He described the "natural course" of the CDO insurance as "disastrous." Perhaps still smarting from DealBreaker's "Will Warren Buffett Go To Hell?" feature, the Oracle stressed that he would "not be presenting this deal to Saint Peter" when he shows at the pearly gates. "We're doing this to make money," Buffett said. "I did not dream this up in one of my pro-bono moments." We thought we should let you know about this development since the odds are your attention was riveted on Fox Business. While Becks was talking to Buffett, FBN's "Money for Breakfast" co-anchor Peter Barnes wasinterviewing an M&M in a Split-Screen from Candyland. Candyland! Who wants a gumdrop! from www.dealbreaker.com
CNBC is doing such a massive disservice to its sheeple viewers by making them think that this is as good as calling it over. This doesn't do diddly jack shit for the real problem that brought us to this level.
MBIA surges on removal from S&P creditwatch negative Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:44pm EST Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of MBIA Inc (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) surged on Monday after Standard & Poor's said it removed the bond insurer from creditwatch negative. ID:nWNA3260 MBIA shares were up 13.7 percent at $13.85 on the NYSE. Shares of rival Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) were up 8.8 percent to $11.65. Which wire had this news first?