Buffett Cancelled Bet on US Cities 5 Years Ago

[Parsad]

CDS insuring municipal debt was cancelled five years ago.  Cheers!

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48733981

[meiroy]

 

CNBC's title sure is confusing, my understanding the bet was done years ago and recently cancelled and not that it was cancelled 5 years ago. Is that right?

 

Context:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kc3bQF1fhY

 

"Warren Buffett is Berkshire Hathaway Chairman & CEO.

 

"Muni bankruptcies will increase as large cities default"

 

[We saw a rise in bankruptices, California, Stockton...should we be worried about that?]

 

"The easier it becomes the more tolerable it is. Once people find the cities works the next day it is easier to deal with bankruptcy. The stigma is reduced....the very fact they do it makes it more likely. Plenty of cities have problems. Huge problems"

 

[Meredith Whitney says we could see hundreds of billions of bankruptcies. Are we at the precipice?]

 

"It may not quite be what people associated wtih bankrupticy before they saw a few of these"."

 

[Parsad]

Hi Meiroy, that's what I thought happened.  That's why I posted the CNBC article because it didn't quite make sense to me.  Cheers!

[woodstove]

Very interesting -- thanks!  The bit I liked most was right at the end, roughly this "... the idea of a debt ceiling ... If Berkshire had put in a debt ceiling in 1966, it would have been a million dollars ... now it would be 50 billion dollars."

 

 

[rijk]

a wsj article, which i can't read completely, makes it look like this is about recent cancellation of municipal bond cds exposure 5 years prior to the regular expiration date (i.e. 2017)???? this would be consistent with buffett's remarks in the video....

 

regards

rijk