Buffett has relied on long-term stock bets on companies such as Coca-Cola Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. to fuel the growth of his Berkshire Hathaway from a failing textile maker to a $242 billion firm.
“The stock market generally is the best place to have money,” he said in a CNBC interview on Oct. 24.
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile climbed to near-record levels of $47.8 billion in the third quarter as Buffett extended his search for larger acquisitions. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company’s more recent deals have included a building-insulation maker and food-distributor Meadowbrook Meat Co. as Buffett’s firm completed so-called bolt-on purchases that cost $1.8 billion in the first nine months of 2012.
“He’s signaling confidence from a volume perspective and perhaps signaling the fixed income markets are tapped out,” Larry Tabb, chief executive officer of the Tabb Group. “He seems to suggest we could see a rotation back into equities.”