Warren Buffett's interview clichés

Associated Press photo

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has mastered the art of the interview cliché like few others.

Buffett is highly sought after for interviews on cable news stations, which usually spend ample time publicizing his appearances.

Buffett is always interesting to listen to, but the fact is that if you watch enough of his interviews you'll notice that he makes the same broad statements over and over while adroitly dodging specific questions about what he's doing at Berkshire. Often it seems the main reason Buffett is doing the interview in the first place is to publicize something he's doing, including recently his charity lunch and animated cartoon series.  

For example during Buffett's Friday interview with CNBC, Buffett dodged questions about his recent sale of Moody's Corp. stock and what effect the recent stock market rally has had on Berkshire's long-term derivative bets. He's also avoided questions in recent interviews about reports that Berkshire made a bid to buy parts of CIT Group. 

Among the clichés Buffett has been dropping lately are that the stock market will recover before the economy, so don't wait for the robins or "spring will be over"; and that the American economy is in shambles now but will do well over time. The movie will end well but Buffett doesn't know how long it will take.

I don't write this to criticize Buffett. It's good for Berkshire shareholders that he stays mum on his activities. If he revealed anything, all the copycat investors out there would buy what Buffett is trying to buy, pushing up the price.

I just think it's funny to watch Buffett again and again drop the same lines and avoid the same questions.