Post date: May 10, 2013 8:17:18 PM
Reuters Market Access - QUESTION: You of course are a Buffett follower. You're a successful hedge fund manager and an author about Warren Buffett. So the big story for this meeting is a bear is going to be asking Warren Buffett questions, Doug Kass who's bearish on the stock. What would make you bearish on the stock?
JEFF MATTHEWS, FOUNDER, RAM PARTNERS LP:Boy, that's a great question. I think if something happened to Warren and if his successor was not up to the job, which I don't think is going to be the case, and then if sometime down the road something happened that started to split the management team up, that would bother me. But right now, I think it's a really well-run engine and I don't see anything making me terrifically negative on the stock.
JEFF MATTHEWS, FOUNDER, RAM PARTNERS LP:
You know, every time something happens, every time Buffett says something, every time there's a new letter out or he's on CNBC or something, somebody says, Oh Buffett talked about that, that means this person is going to be it; or, he mentioned this person, that means Bill Gates is going to be doing it. And I thought people should really just think about it the way an investor would think about it, the wayWarren Buffett would think about it, and really think it through so that if it happens and you wake up one day and there's somebody there that's not Warren Buffett, you're very comfortable with it. And I think if you do it that way, he'll be very comfortable with it. And I think it just comes down to one person.
QUESTION:What investments look more intriguing perhaps now than in the past?
EFF MATTHEWS, FOUNDER, RAM PARTNERS LP:
Well I really think the US housing recovery is going to drive a lot. It's not just houses. It helps banks. It helps people that sell things into houses. It helps contractors. It helps Ford sell more pickup trucks which we saw just yesterday. The numbers came out and the pickup truck sales are great. So it helps a lot, and that's something that I'm really focused on. I think that's a really good development for the economy. The second thing that I think is wonderful is this whole shale revolution which is helping Berkshire. The railroad is shipping crude oil, half-a-million barrels a day of crude oil is going by rail, by Burlington Northern. It has very far reaching effects, and I think that's very positive for a lot of things. So I'm very optimistic about certain sectors that are really geared for the United States because I think there's a lot of good going on here.