Source: Jinshi Data

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett said that after the stock market decline this year, the company cannot find many worthwhile targets to buy in the market .

In an interview on CNBC's "Business Forum" on Tuesday, Buffett said that after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) fell 10% from their highs and entered correction territory, "we haven't seen any opportunities in the stock market." The S&P 500 is down 7.5% year-to-date as of Monday.

When CNBC anchor Becky Quick asked about the market downturn, Buffett said, "It's nothing." He added that the market had fallen by 50% three times since he took the helm of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965.

Buffett added that Berkshire Hathaway would invest if the market experienced a significant downturn. He noted that Berkshire holds over $350 billion in cash, most of which is in Treasury bonds. Buffett stated that Berkshire purchased $17 billion in Treasury bonds at Monday's weekly auction.

Buffett stated that he can invest in Berkshire Hathaway's stocks, but any investment decisions must first be discussed with CEO Greg Abel, who is responsible for managing the $300 billion stock portfolio as part of his duties. Abel will succeed Buffett as CEO at the end of 2025.

In a one-hour interview, Buffett discussed a range of topics, marking his first interview since stepping down as CEO in early 2026. Buffett will not attend Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in May to answer shareholder questions. Abel will take the stage with several Berkshire executives, while Buffett will sit in the audience with other Berkshire directors.

"The apples were sold too early."

Warren Buffett said on Tuesday that he sold his Apple (AAPL) stock too early, but he would not buy more in the current market environment, though he will in the future .

“I sold too early. But I bought even earlier, so,” Buffett said, referring to his appearance which was primarily to announce the relaunch of his famous charity lunch event.

According to InsiderScore, although Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake to $61.96 billion at the end of last year, Apple remains its largest holding company.

Buffett said, "I'm happy that it's our largest holding, but I'm not happy that it accounts for almost the entire sum of all our other holdings."

“If Apple could offer a lower price, we might buy in bulk,” he added, “but that’s not possible in the current market environment.”

Buffett stated that the company's pre-tax profits from stocks have exceeded $100 billion, and that he rates Tim Cook's leadership of the company higher than that of Steve Jobs.

Buffett said, "Tim Cook is playing the hand he's dealt better. He can't do what Steve Jobs did, but Jobs himself might not have played the hand he was given as well as Cook."

“Tim is an excellent manager, and he’s a great guy. Somehow, he gets along with everyone in the world,” he added. “I don’t have that ability, and my partner Charlie Munger certainly doesn’t either.”

Support the zero inflation target

In an interview on Tuesday, Buffett also discussed the Federal Reserve's inflation target. The Fed's dual mandate is to achieve full employment and price stability. To maintain stable price growth, the Fed has set a 2% inflation target, but this target has not been achieved for more than five years.

Some economists and Trump administration officials advocate raising the inflation target to 3%, while Buffett said on Tuesday that even the current 2% target is too high and he actually supports a zero inflation target .

“I hope they set a zero inflation target,” Buffett told CNBC. “Once you tolerate 2% inflation, the long-term compounding effect will be very significant—it’s like telling people that if the rate of return on money is below 2%, their wealth is shrinking.”

However, zero inflation is not a reasonable goal. If the Federal Reserve sets this as its target, the risk of deflation will increase significantly, and deflation is often a precursor to an economic recession. It would also reduce the flexibility of the Fed's monetary policy.

“Zero inflation sounds good, but it could lead to a deflationary cycle,” Patrick Harker, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and now a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said last September. “That’s why most central banks set their target at around 2%.”

For example, between September 2007 and December 2008, the Federal Reserve drastically reduced the federal funds rate from 5.25% to a range of 0%-0.25%. If inflation had been zero at that time, the rate cut would have directly resulted in negative real interest rates.

Another major benefit of maintaining a positive inflation target is improved labor market efficiency. Moderate inflation reduces the need for companies to cut wages during recessions, and small wage increases are easier to implement, thereby curbing excessively rapid growth in real wages, reducing labor costs, and minimizing large-scale layoffs.

The debate over a reasonable inflation target has been ongoing for many years. In the late 1990s, the U.S. Congress considered passing legislation to simplify the Federal Reserve's mission to price stability.

At the time, the Brookings Institution opposed the zero inflation target, arguing that it would impose "huge real costs" on the U.S. economy, with studies estimating that it would push up the unemployment rate and drag down annual GDP growth by 1 to 3 percentage points.

Furthermore, both raising and lowering the inflation target would damage the Federal Reserve's credibility, especially given that it has failed to reach its 2% target for approximately five consecutive years. Losing public trust could trigger a vicious cycle of inflation.

While Buffett hopes for lower inflation, he said on Tuesday that he values ​​the stability of the banking system more and expressed support for Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's overall performance in recent years, especially praising his decisions to cut interest rates quickly during the pandemic, ensure the flow of credit, and stabilize the financial system.

“If he had waited another two or three weeks, it would have been a disaster. Once the dominoes start falling, they fall much faster than you can imagine,” Buffett commented. “He did the right thing.”

Buffett also called Powell and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker his "heroes" at the Federal Reserve.

He did not speak with Bill Gates after the Epstein Papers were released.

Buffett also discussed Jeffrey Epstein's documents and his annual donations to the Gates Foundation, saying he would "wait and see" before deciding whether to continue making annual donations to the foundation. His next large annual donation is scheduled for June.

The Gates Foundation is led by Bill Gates, who has been embroiled in negative press due to his relationship with Epstein, including further details revealed in the latest batch of Epstein documents.

Since 2006, Buffett has donated nearly $50 billion annually to the Gates Foundation, including approximately $5 billion last June. In 2024, Buffett stated that he would no longer donate to the foundation after his death —a departure from his initial pledge when he began donating in 2006. When asked about his views on the Gates Foundation and Bill Gates, Buffett gave a cautious answer.

Buffett stated that he has not met or spoken with Gates since the Epstein Papers were released. Buffett said the documents were read to him because he couldn't read them himself; his "eyesight is too poor."

Buffett pointed out that the Gates Foundation has a massive resource of $96 billion—the largest of all foundations—funds primarily derived from the wealth accumulated by Bill Gates through his Microsoft stock holdings and other investments.

Other beneficiaries of Buffett's charitable donations are his family foundations, including three foundations each managed by his three children. These foundations will receive approximately $140 billion of Buffett's estate upon his death.

Buffett said it was fortunate Epstein never visited Omaha, otherwise he might have met Epstein, and perhaps even taken a photo with him. Buffett stated that he had never met Epstein. He said, "Thank God, I never got close to that guy."