Best Dow, S&P returns were during recession: Warren Buffet

Q:  You said at the meeting that you read five papers a day.  

A:  At least. 

Q:  At least five papers a day.  I know, we've probably asked you every question under the sun, but I thought with these new headlines, maybe we could go through some of them and get your thoughts. 

A: Okay.  

Q:  Let's start things off with the Wall Street Journal. I brought five or six papers, to give you a quick quiz off of some of these. First of all, you're all over the papers with the meeting.  A lot of papers that have come out - this one on the front of the Journal says Slump Has Dealt Buffett a Rather Rough Hand. Inside it says Buffett Plays Down Hoopla and Hope. The funny thing, I thought, is depending on which newspaper you pick up, which headline you read, some people say you're very optimistic about the future, others say you're very concerned.  What's the right take? 

A:  Maybe they both have got it right. I'm 100 percent, enormously optimistic about the future of this country over time. I mean, there's no way you can bet against America and win. Just look back at a couple of hundred years ago, how people were living and how they live now. We're not any smarter than they were a couple of hundred years ago. We've got the same land and everything else. But we've unleashed human potential and will continue to do so. So twenty years from now, fifty years from now, your kids and grandchildren are going to live far better than you live.  But, in the short term, things are going to be tough for awhile. And we see no real pickup in a whole variety of businesses we have. But they'll be doing fine in a few years.  I don't know whether they'll be doing fine in three months, six months, two years. I know they'll be doing fine in five years, and I hope they'll be doing fine in five months. I don't have the answer to exactly when.