Wednesday, September 24, 2008

A Guy Who Might be Smarter then Warren Buffett Talks About the Financial Mess (AGO; BRK.A)

I'll have a "lots O'links" post on Mr. Ross tomorrow, before the open. In the meantime, here's an interview from a couple days ago.
From CNBC:
Ross: It's About the Liquidity Mindset, Not Credit

Today's current crisis is not so much about credit as it is about liquidity, according to one billionaire investor.

"I think liquidity was more the issue. That was what was driving the money funds bad, not so much credit," said Wilbur Ross, CEO of WL Ross & Co., on CNBC Monday. "Credit was a little tiny part of it. It was more the illiquidity and the rush of people to exit."

He suggested that psychology will have to change in order to combat the problem.

"I think we have two problems with liquidity. One is the physical issue, but the other is the psychological one. The same banks that weren't afraid of anything the last several years now are afraid of everything. You've got to change that if you're going to have liquidity come back into the system." (See his full comments in the video)

But there's a danger, he warned.

"I think it creates an odd situation for the money funds, in that during this one-year period, will their yields be higher than the yields on bank deposits? If they are, you're liable to create an inadvertent run on the banks.">>>MORE



You can pull our "Wilbur Ross" posts via this 'Search Blog' link.