Source: USA TODAY

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he doesn’t like owning bonds right now, and he doesn’t think average investors should either.

The CEO and chairman of investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway says individual investors should keep enough cash on hand to be comfortable if the unexpected happens.

The rest should be invested in stocks, he added, even though stock prices are well above the rock-bottom levels they hit several years ago during the Great Recession.

Buffett said on CNBC financial news network Monday that bonds are a “terrible” investment at the moment and that owners of long-term bonds may see big losses when interest rates eventually rise.

The famed investor, dubbed the Oracle of Omaha for his long-term winning track record, said stocks are generally selling for reasonable prices even at the record high levels of the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

The 82-year-old Buffett, who says he has no plans to retire anytime soon, believes the Federal Reserve’s efforts to keep rates low are helping stocks. But an improving economy is also playing a role.

He said he remains a fan of Fed chair Ben Bernanke, but Buffett also said he thinks bond prices are artificially inflated because of the Fed’s ongoing stimulus, which includes keeping rates low and buying $85 billion of bonds a month. Bond yields, which move inversely to prices, are near historic lows.

Buffett gave interviews Monday to CNBC and Fox Business News networks following a star-studded weekend of events surrounding Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting.

Berkshire owns more than 80 companies and holds major investments in Wells Fargo, IBM, Coca-Cola and other companies with iconic brands.

Buffett reiterated his support of Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase. He said the bank, whose stock he owns in his personal portfolio, has the right person at the helm.

He expects Berkshire to own a stake in ketchup-maker H.J. Heinz forever, and Buffett said he doesn’t see a problem in taking a partner — the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital — in a recently announced $23.3 billion deal. He added that he hopes Berkshire’s stake in Heinz will grow over time.

He has been questioned about whether the structuring of the Heinz deal, which gives Berkshire a 50% stake in Heinz, represents a change in the company’s investment style. Typically, Berkshire buys companies outright and allows them to operate without significant intervention.

But 3G is not a typical private equity firm, Buffett said, because it invests a significant amount of its own money in deals and it runs businesses.

Buffett said traffic is picking up at BNSF railroad, which Berkshire owns, as the economy improves. He said the railroad will likely deliver record earnings this year, but will probably still haul fewer carloads than it did before the recession.

BNSF “has been a terrific acquisition for Berkshire,” Buffett said.

BNSF contributed $798 million to Berkshire’s $4.9 billion first-quarter profit the company reported Friday. The Omaha-based company’s overall profit soared 51% over the previous year’s $3.3 billion net income.

Contributing: USA TODAY‘s Beth Belton, The Associated Press

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett on Friday offered cautious optimism about the hiring and economic outlook. And he said investors shouldn’t worry about his successor.

In two TV interviews, the 82-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said he has no plans to retire and isn’t concerned about who will next lead the companies in which he invests billions of dollars.

As the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index sailed past all-time record highs, Buffett told CNBC financial news network that he believes the economy and the U.S. job market will continue to improve, but slowly.

“The economy is improving, not at a rapid clip, but this country has done well since 2008 — certainly compared to the rest of the world,” Buffett said.

On Saturday, Buffett will take questions in front of more than 30,000 people at Berkshire’s annual meeting. He said business has been creeping upward at his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.

Buffett said Friday he thinks it would be extraordinary if the Federal Reserve were to expand its bond-buying program beyond the current $85 billion a month level. The Fed said Wednesday that it would consider buying more if the economy needs help.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke needs some help from elsewhere to get the economy moving faster, Buffett said on CNBC. Bernanke has urged Congress to do more to stimulate hiring and growth.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, Buffett reiterated that Berkshire’s board knows who it would pick as CEO if he died tonight, but the top candidates could change over time.

Buffett said Berkshire’s board spends more time talking about succession planning than any other topic. Buffett won’t publicly identify his successor, partly because the candidates could change.

Currently, all the CEO candidates on Berkshire’s short list are men, but Buffett said that could change, too.

“Maybe 10 years or 15 years from now it will be a she. I hope it is,” he said.

Berkshire plans to split Buffett’s job into three parts when he no longer leads the company. The next CEO will run Berkshire, but two others hired by Buffett in recent years will oversee investments. Buffett wants his oldest son to succeed him as chairman.

Berkshire owns more than 80 subsidiaries, including railroad, clothing, furniture and jewelry firms. Its insurance and utility businesses typically account for more than half the company’s net income. The Omaha, Neb.-company also has major investments in several public companies.

The famed investor said he isn’t concerned about who will next lead four companies in which Berkshire invests nearly $50 billion, such as Coca-Cola, IBM, Wells Fargo and American Express.

“I don’t know who’s going to succeed the present CEOs there, and in every case, each one of the four have changed CEOs since we started buying the stock, in certain cases more than once,” Buffett said. “I never knew who they were going to be. I knew they’d pick good people.”

Contributing: USA TODAY‘s Beth Belton, The Associated Press

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Officials announced Friday night that police captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old Boston bombing suspect.

After a tense, five-day drama, Col. Timothy Alben of the Massachusetts State Police said, “We’re so grateful to bring justice and closure to this case.”

Police cornered Tsarnaev in a covered boat in the backyard of a Watertown, Mass., home. Eventually, Tsarnaev was taken away in an ambulance.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.