he has a very famous father, warren buffett. had you ever heard of him? >> si. >> oh, i'm impressed. >> as we reported, howard buffett doesn't always agree with bill gates on the best ways to help farm development in africa. but that doesn't mean they can't work together. towards the end of 2011, the howard buffett foundation announced it was joining with the gates foundation to support the work of n2africa, a dutch-led initiative to improve soil quality and increase agricultural productivity in eight african countries. the $2 million donation from the buffett foundation will support work in sierra leone and liberia. [ticking] coming up: making money faster than you can blink... are humans ever involved in the trading? >> humans are not involved in the trading because humans are way too slow. >> when 60 minutes on cnbc returns. at what maklees the sleber e store different? you walk into a convents u e, store,really ounot about yo u. you walk into a convents u th"wey say, "wf you fwant a firm cabed you ca e on one of fthose, ifwa you waoft bed you e can lie

keep them coming, warren buffett is trending on -- what does that mean? eak and writing about this interview. >> what does trending mean? >> means there are thousands of people putting the word buffett in their tweeting, which means -- >> they're not headed to a buffett? >> they could be but more likely they're watching "squawk." >> i don't think any twitter people go to buffets, right? >> they're oall in the buffet line tweeting. >> it's trending, a lot of trending going on, woo, right behind "the artist" and meryl streep. >> right. >> first, we'll get -- we have to get this -- a sneak peek at "squawk on the street's" new set. ♪ oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen the the new spark cardnth from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really ha

. >> compared to warren buffett, right? governor christie had kind words about warren buffett this morning enchts we saw that, basically shuts up and go away. >> don't you love that? >> he says that to a lot of people. >> if you want to write the -- >> he should wear a sign around her chest. >> shut up and -- >> i try to get mice kids to say shh or quiet time? >> i'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say. >>> guys, we'll see you in just

their income comes from keep in mind the top tax rate now for rate right now for people like warren buffett's secretary is thirty five percent so millionaires and billionaires will actually still pay less than she does but with the buffett rule in place people like mitt romney and paris hilton who make their money sitting on their butts around the pool waiting for the dividend checks to arrive will finally pay their fair share in taxes and not just the mac current maximum of fifteen percent senator whitehouse is gone the legislation the pain a fair share act so can such a proposal break a republican filibuster in the senate and actually get consideration in a bought off house of representatives here to offer his take on this is conservative commentator david selig from them from our new york studios david great to see you thank you good also hoffman it's always a pleasure. what the mud. the. capote's the telecast comes out of the heartland. ok. why do you hate warren buffett's secretary. well i don't hate warren buffett's secretary at all but the fact of the matter is your viewing audience an

and of course, the owner of that railroad is warren buffett. we have not made any effort to call warren buffett to testify in this hearing because even though his company might benefit if the pipeline is not built, with we do not think he has a direct financial interest in it. and i really in my view do not view, warren buffett and the coke brothers any different on this situation. so, i simply wanted to mention that. i would also say that the state department, when it issued the final environmental impact statement in august of 2011 actually made the comment that it would be better to build this this pipeline than to not build the pipeline. if you were looking at the two options, it would be better to build it than to not build it. and so, other pipeline projects requiring a presidential permit usually take 18 to 24 months to approve, keystone is now in the 40th month, when these additional delays appeared to be mounting in 2011, the u.s. house passed bipartisan legislation, that instructs the president to make a final decision one way or the

reporter: warren buffett is not alone. money-making ideas love company and large investors and private equity types already have hundreds of millions, maybe billions of dollars, on hand to buy up foreclosed homes and rent them out. at carrington mortgage rick sharga says the company is ready to buy 30,000 to 40,000 homes. >> i think we all agree with warren buffet. if we could buy millions of homes, we'd be doing that right now. there is a lot of capital that's very interested in participating in a program like this. >> reporter: like this, meaning a pilot program announced by federal regulators who took charge of the troubled mortgage gian fannie mae and freddie mac when the companies were placed under government control. the federal housing finance agency today announced a test sale of 2,500 homes around the country. focusing on areas from los angeles to nevada and florida where the housing fell hardest. but this is a tiny fraction of the 700,000 or so foreclosed homes now on the books of financial institutions. and here

warren buffett sounding off on taxes to single family housing from the stock markets to the banks. >> he likes one bank in particular. we'll tell you which one. and should you bet like buffett with your own investments? the experts weigh in on the other side of a very quick break. ty and i are back in two. ♪ [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. there's no going back. [ male announcer ] ylord of the carry-on.. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. we were just driving along,er comin' back from the lake,ng. and all of a sudden, ka-plam. it blindsided us. what is it? our college savings account. how do you think it happened? not

. >> mean while we have to start off with becky's historic interview with warren buffett interview. berkshire's remanning tight lipped about who his successor is. here's what buffett had to say what he views as a deep bench at berkshire. >> at berkshire we've got people like matt rose, they are ceos already. we have a choice of dozens of ceos. it's the luxury that i don't know another company that has it. in the end -- it could be tonight, it could be five years from now. >> i'm curious, kraemer, do you think that berkshire hathaway is trading below book value and the fact that investors do not know who will succeed, there is not a clear plan in place? >> i think that's part of it. but i think what's driving the almost dramaticoned performance, the company is so difficult to analyze. this letter does break done the sectors, tells you what it is. at the conclusion of it i still feel the it's too many different companies for anyone to able to make a good analysis. he says if the stock is cheap, he says buy it back. he's not buying back stock. he only bought a thimble full. this is the

what warren buffett says you should be doing with your money is coming up. but is he right about housing this time around? and also the happiest stock on earth, disney, getting a big upgrade. is it time to put a little mickey or minnie or daffy in your portfolio? career. and it's 168,000 hours. so just think, if you had an 8-hour job, i'm like a man of 100 and something years old. i've worked very hard to support my family. and i finally reached that point where i'm going to retire. ♪ ♪ >>> goodyear tire up 50% over the last six months. some good news on the housing front. pending home sales hitting a new and near two-year high today. that and warren buffett telling cnbc that housing is poised for an upswing. >> if anyone is going to live the next five or ten years, i would buy a home and furnish with a 30-year mortgage. and literally if i was an investor that was a handy type, which i'm not, i would buy a couple of them at distressed prices and find renters. i think that's -- and, again, take a 30-year mortgage. it's a leveraged way of owning a very cheap a

let's talk now a little bit about warren buffett. and, again, this surprises a lot of people, but buff buffett is very much involved and engaged in this. buffett, also a strong backer of barack obama, very well connected n. the 2008 campaign he had the luxury of having both barack obama and john mccain saying that they'd like him as treasury secretary. buffett didn't prefer that, but he liked the role of being the savior, um, of the american economy. now, if you go back to the financial crisis in 2008, warren buffett when the financial crisis begins immediately becomes involve with the the treasury department in structuring what would eventually become the bailout or the so-called public/private partnership by the treasury department. he advises, first, hank paulson, and then when timothy biter in becomes the treasury secretary, he works with geithner. and literally the public/private partnership which the treasury secretary announces in march of 2009 started and largely resembles a five-page letter that warren buffett had written de

is it right that taking your argument to its natural conclusion that warren buffett is as much in youromic situation as the poorest person in the new jersey? >> first of all, warren doesn't live in new jersey. i don't have to worry about him. secondly, that's not what i said. you say that's the logical conclusion of my statement. i disagree with you. let's look at what i've done in new jersey. that's the best gauge to judge a politician. not what they say in a talk show with you but what they've done. in two years what we've done is protect the most vulnerables are even when we had to cut $13 billion in state spending over two years, increase funding to hospitals to take care of the poor to make sure charity care was available and increase funding to federally qualified health centers to make sure people had access to health care, made sure that people at the lowest rung of our economy were being taken care of. so of course during difficult economic times you're most concerned about the people who have the potential to suffer the most. >> that's all i wanted to hear. that's the only an

. >> warren buffett and his crew, here's what they did. this is dated as of the end of the fourth quarter. new positions established in new companies. dva and lmca. by the way i've gone through a number of 13fs the last couple hours. liberty's been added by a number of companies. warren buffett added to his positions in coke, directv, cbs care mark, wells fargo, and visa. he cut but not eliminated stakes in johnson & johnson and kraft. then sold completely out of exxonmobil. that was a small stake. still exxon no longer part of the portfolio. i think that name you're showing davita the most interesting. not a typical company that warren buffett would invest in. new positions. i'll be back in a bit with more from david einhorn's green light capital. >> dva an unusual name. no surprise given his new manager he brought in. that was one of the few stocks that was in his portfolio. i believe liberty might have been there. but davita definitely was. >> i remember talking with ted wexler years ago about it. does have a lot of depth. but it was a

of talking about warren buffett.t are you going to bring up next, his secretary? this is the old song. don't twist what i said. piers -- >> no, no, no. i haven't asked the question. >> i know the question. >> what's the question? >> you think warren buffett needs as much attention from the government as the vulnerable? >> yes. >> thank you. let's go to break. >> what's the answer? >> since i got the question right, i'm not answering the question, how about that? that's my gift when you think i didn't have it right. >> we're going to go to a break and i'm going to reward you for guessing my question by making you answer. >> good. >> you agree. >> with your point. what's left behind? [ female announcer ] purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena® naturals. developed with dermatologists... it's clinically proven to remove 99% of dirt and toxins and purify pores. and with natural willowbark it contains no dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. dirt and toxins do a vanishing act and my skin feels pure and healthy. [ female ann

you have heard me say it, warren buffett plays a lower tax rate than his secretary. i don't need a tax break, we don't need to provide additional tax cuts for negotiation who are doing real, really well. do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest americans or do we want clean air, education, care for our military. asking a billionaire -- warren buffett's doing fine, i'm doing fine, we don't need to tax breaks, you need them. you're the ones who see your wages stall. the ones who -- we don't begrudge success in america, we aspire to it. i want everybody here to go out in and do great. i want you to make loads of money if you k that's wonderful. ---and given where our deficit is, it's just a matter of math that folks like me are going to have to do a little bit more. because americans understand if i get a tax break i don't need and the country can't afford. one of two things is going to happen, either that means we have to add tour deficit or it means that you've got to pay for it. it means the seniors got to pay for it. in terms of suddenly their medicare b

isn't the man behind berkshire hathaway warren buffett exactly who he was crooning about?re, it's a terrific question. one of hundreds i've received via e-mail at madmoney "cnbc.com and at twitter where you can reach me @jimcramer #tweets and the cnbc twitter. probably blacked out by that yellow thing. what is that yellow thing? let me tell you why i so appreciate this particular set of inquiries and it's because berkshire hathaway is the perfect stock to own in 2012 andy about yond, but nobody realizes it because the company is so hard to analyze. everybody and their mother will praise berkshire ceo and the man who built this company 50 years ago to the diversified multinational powerhouse it is today, making investors a fortune in the process, but lately the adoration for buffett hasn't been translating much into a stock, frankly. isn't that a little ridiculous? the reason for it is pretty simple. berkshire hathaway is really, mri kated. it's an insurance company. it's a railroad. >> all aboard! >> it's a utility and it's a pipeline play and a chemical company, and it se

consider it the sum of its parts without factoring in warren buffett's business sense and investing acumens so much more than the sum of its parts. plus, buffett is able to lever berkshire's fantastic balance sheet to effect enormous preferred returns when goldman was struggling and now bank of america, which is really struggling, which berkshire invested $5 billion in, unlike when you buy bank of america's common stock. hey, look, that's what berkshire gets to do because they're winners and then there's berkshire's gigantic put position that no one talks about. buffett sold tons of put options when everybody was terrified. effectively betting that that index would go higher when everyone thought it would go lower and it's since turned out to be brilliant. for every 1% increase, berkshire makes $16 million from the puts. timing is everything and right now the timing is perfect for berkshire hathaway. warren buffett isn't just the oracle, he's the wizard, with the insurance renaissance, berkshire hathaway is too good to ignore even as it is ignored by everyone. i think it is a screaming buy

and no less than warren buffett is saying as much. now i know the oracle thought housing was going to turn last year. whoa! [ buzzer ] and also never applied to him, but i'm going to do it. [ booing ] he has home-related plays galore. but this year is different. he is not just saying housing, i'm early. he wants in huge. just take a look at this amazing, in my head, snippet from today's incredible interview with becky quick. >> if i had a way of buying a couple hundred thousand single family homes and had a way of managing, the management is really a problem, because they're one by one. they're not like apartment houses. but i would load up on them. and i would take mortgages out at very, very low rates. >> got to love a guy that says the real issue is management and not buying hundreds of thousands of them. i would have thought the buying hundreds of thousands of them was a bit of a stumbling block. anyway, warren is not alone. fantastic pending home sales numbers for january, one that took the index back up to where it was in januar

that's what warren buffett told him to do. steve didn't do it. >> the stock almost tripled, so he was on to something. >> let's talk about priceline and take a position here before the earnings. the stock is at 600 bucks, hitting levels not seen since the internet bubble and the company posted earning results later today. let's bring in mark mahaney. good to have you on the show as always. where do you come down on what the earnings expectations are here? >> we're looking for about $5 in earnings. that's roughly where the street is. this is a very consistent beat quarter company. they guide conservatively and print above that. we have a lot of head winds this quarter. you have a lot of european macro exposure with this name. despite all that, i still think the numbers are good for this core and slightly beat the street. it will likely be conservative and we like the stock. >> they really matter to a company like priceline, do they not? 80% of gross profits come from international markets. >> the risk is this stock moves up and

warren buffett.le. >>alisyn: but the c.e.o. may be working on a plan to avoid his own buffett rule by shielding his wealth. our guest says he has never seen a businessman get such a free pass. why don't we see the underbelly of warren buffett? charles gasparino is there at the game. that looks fun, charlie. >> i'm giving it to you today, giving you his underbelly. >>alisyn: how could he avoid the buffett rule? >>guest: listen he shields most of his taxes through -- he benefits, warren buffett earned $40 billion, his net worth, something along those lines through the lower capital gains rate. so, the very thing he is decrying, he actually made his fortune from, and he has thrown his money into the gates foundation where he is shielding the taxes now, and he -- this is a lot of hypocrisy and you look at his record, we should point out warren buffett is a great investor, i am not saying there is anything wrong with that but look how he made his money, the investments in the past, and it ape that much di

. >>> up next, warren buffett disclosing on cnbc that he ounce jpmorgan shares in his personal accountshould you follow his lead and break down the chart and talking numbers at the banks. >>> when will we see a pickup in trading volume maria asks me. nyse ceo duncan need eiederauers us his thoughts, next on the closing bell. stay tuned. [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat

if we can't at least ask warren buffett, so we can do the kinds of things that are going to lead to long-term investments. i have one question very briefly. when you say the tax rate is going to go up on someone who makes $250,000. is it for every dollar they make after $250,000? >> yes it would be after the margin. >> so everything at $250,000 would be taxed at the present tax rate and then -- what does that mean for someone who makes $350,000 a year, what would it mean as far as an increase goes? >> hundreds of dollars. >> thousands of dollars. >> it could be a thousand but it's modest and you're making the point well. >> so someone who makes $350,000 would pay an additional say $500 or $1,000 depending on how much they would say over $250,000, they would r as our country, as we see from these charts, we're all worried about our kids and our grandkids. no one has the high ground on that. it's how do we fix it. and we're saying asking these folks to pitch in $500 or $1,000 when they make $300,000 a year is a small tax increase. >> secretary geithner, i do want to take you up on your offer, w

>> warren buffett pay as lower tax rate than his secretary.not need a tax break. we do not need to provide additional tax cuts for folks that are doing really, really, really, well. >> but the fact is the warren buffett tax increase would not do anything. >> it's a serious problem to say we have growing income in equality, let's think about making the tax code more progressive. that should be on the table. but we have to say, there's not enough revenue from billionaires and millionaires to loclose the gap but we have to look at broader entitlement reform. while they talk about health care, it's not enough. social security is nowhere to be heard of from either side. we are skirting the hard choices and the longer we do it, the greater the risks that we do not set up a mandate during elections, to do something afterwards. we should not be taking a year off and ignoring the problem, we should be focusing on getting a deal done now. his budget has good things but not getting us where we need to go. >> here is the senate leader, mitch making his po

. >> paul, i'm not friending warren buffett the berkshire hathaway ceo.th as a buffet rule to tax him and his rich friends. they're paying capital gains because he's giving his wealth to the family controlled trust in the gates foundation. basically the buffet rule is hardly going to affect warren buffett although may hit a lot of the the rich friends he talked about. >> paul: all right, james. kim. >> a hit for susan g komen for the cure, the charity now stopped giving money to planned parenthood and list add lot of boring reasons for stopping the grants, but in the case the huge backlash among liberals claiming it's political. not giving money because planned parenthood also does abortions. whatever the reasons, it was the right one. millions of americans have taken part in komen events thinking they're raising money for a cure for a cancer not women's issues, this is called mission creep. >> paul: thank you, kim. if you have your own hit miss, ger@foxne

warren buffett says home prices are a bargain.home price day it at that is out at 9:00 eastern time. expected to show prices fell by about 3.8% in december from a year earlier. >>> the costa allegra cruise ship is being towed to the seychelle islands. no injuries were reported in the "allegra" in this incident. futures are indicated higher and right now the dow futures up by 46 points. joe? >> i had to listen closely, i thought it was the same -- >> different one. >> unbelievable. our guest host is a squawk master, mohammed el-erian, ceo and co-chief investment officer, he doesn't just invest in bonds now. >> and got the best phrases in the business. >> he does. >> i asked if he'd bring a new one to the table. >> mohammed i see that as kind of, i mean i don't know, you say he makes up phrases? >> comes one normal looking, no, he's got the language. >> it's not just, you're not just pify phrases. they do a lot of thinking and strategizing. >> there's a lot behind the phrasing. that's what's powerful. >> andrew is thinking like a jo

warren buffett is warren buffett. people like to know what he's doing and they like to see what he's making. whether you follow what berkshire is doing, that's another big question. meantime the big economic data keeps. going. we're going to be bringing you highlights from the bank of england's inflation report with mervin king that. will be live. plus, understanding the opportunities in china and finding bargains in the rubble of the european crisis. plus, we look ahead to what we can expect from the big data points and earnings in the u.s. today, and specifically those fed minutes. and as always keep your e-mails and tweets coming in @jack in @jackiedeangelis at cnbcworldwide. stay with us. stamps.com is the best. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. there's nothing worse than going to the post office and waiting in line. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com, you can buy and print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages so you'll never have to go to the post office ag

. >> he was asked about warren buffett, the man who said tax me more, i'm okay with that.hould just write a check and shut up and just contribute. the fact of the matter is that i'm tired of hearing about it. if he wants to give the government more money, he's got the ability to write a check. go ahead and write it. >> well, even warren buffett, though, if he wrote a check, could not do a whole lot. christine romans joined us at the table during the commercial break and said, you get letters from people saying, could i write the government a check to help pay down the debt? >> from time to time, i get a letter saying, i've inherited money from my husband or i'm a widow. i would like to do something about our debt problem. i don't want to give this to our grandchildren. the government will let you write a check. you can go to the treasury's website and find out how you can pay down the debt, but don't. you're throwing your money into an abyss of debt. $15 trillion is the national debt. the issue here is having a fair tax system and having a congress and a president together

we hope to turn the tide in this war the roosevelt started more than seventy years ago and the warren buffett warned recently is all about lost today federal courts across america were occupied by the ninety nine percent i showed up and helped occupy the supreme court here in d.c. an action organized nationwide by move to amend or to carry all of us forward in a struggle for democracy and an economy that benefits all americans. repeat the mantra money is not speech it's property and corporations are people and should be forbidden from meddling in our politics go to move to amend or for more information. and that's the big picture for more information on the stories we covered visit our website to tom harmon dot com free speech dot org an r t dot com also check out our two you tube channel is there a link to tom harmon dot com this entire show is also available as a free video podcast on i tunes mr tom hartman dot com to download the audio podcast of tom's daily twelve to three radio show and we have free tom harmon i phone and i pad apps at the store you can send us feedback at twitter at tom

as billionaire warren buffett said there is a class warfare in america going on right now and it's his class the rich class the romney class that's winning but i guess you can't blame multimillionaires like mitt romney or newt gingrich or billionaires like the koch brothers for not being aware of the class warfare because they live in a completely different country than the rest of us. they don't care about paying their fair share of taxes to make sure our roads aren't potholed and our bridges aren't crumbling and they have their private chauffeurs their private jets they don't care of police budgets are getting cut they have their own private security their care of our public schools are running out of money and failing our kids in their own private schools they don't care if our health care prices are skyrocketing their top notch insurance plans are just pocket change for they don't care if young men and women are being sent off to die in the middle east because they know their kids will never have to go they don't care if a generation of young americans are saddled with over a trill

berkshire hathaway's warren buffett said we own shares of jpmorgan.ore than 16% higher year to date. could boost sentiment even more. with all that said, are shares still a buy? let's ask jamie cox. you expect it will. what do you think is going to be said tomorrow. >> i don't think he's going to follow angelina jolie's lead and show leg. >> i kind of wish he would. >> you never know. but i do think he will expound upon his comments on housing. i think with both jpmorgan and the banks, i'm going to see what he has to say about housing. that really tells us what the future holds for banks. over the past couple months, had a tremendous run. dependent upon what happens results of the stress test and what housing does generally. apart from that i do think that you could continue to own jpmorgan from the div dent. and a slow incremental increase. >> it's karen. let me ask you something. how do you value this? what do you think is normalized earnings if we get back to a housing market that's not continuing to fall. what kind of multiple do you put on it? wh

. >>> right now, warren buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest americans? >> president obama in his state of the union calling for fairness in the tax code and making one simple point. a billionaire shouldn't pay less in taxes than his secretary. warren buffett says he pays 17.4% in taxes while his secretary pays more than double that. it's not fair. it's not right. but it's how the system is rigged right now. but how mitt romney was able to pay less than 14% in taxes in 2010 even though he made $21 million that year. but today, democratic senator sheldon whitehouse introduced a bill to make the so-called buffett rule a new law. >> so we'll bring fairness as well as common sense to our tax system. it really makes no sense for somebody earning $80,000 or $100,000 or $120,000 a year to be paying a substantially higher tax rate than somebody earning $250 million a year. >> joining me now is senator sheldon whitehouse, democrat from rhode island. senator, first of all, thank you for your time tonig

but i think the real issue is, warren buffett said if he could, he would buy all these houses. he's a billionaire. why can't he and why doesn't he? if there was money to really be made, i think he'd be doing it. >> pricing certainly shows it's a buyer's market. if you've got billions of dollars, go and buy. >>> another big fail for two education stocks. you guessed it. it's herb. he's here with a double "disaster du jour." >> you have the entire group getting whacked today. but the post irchildren for that would be apollo group. giving forecasts for new enrollment on the case of apollo is much less than the street expected. and there are investigations going on. you can see thth from the stocks, investors don't like it. i said the stock would go through a hard reset. it's going through that hard reset. some analysts are continuing to be somewhat bullish on apollo. >> really, really tough slides there in apollo and career education. >>> coming up next, some people just can't get i enough of apple. but as the stock hits another all-time high, is it time to take profits and get ou