"Stock God" Buffett: Recent market fluctuations are "nothing much" and he won't take action in the short term

Ask AI · How does Buffett, with sixty years of experience, judge that market volatility is not something to fear?

Cailian Press, April 1 (Editor Liu Rui) — On Tuesday, Eastern Time, “The Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett, in an interview, publicly talked about his views on recent market volatility.

For this legendary investor, now aged 95, he believes that the impact of the current Iran war on the market is basically “nothing serious.”

And compared with Wall Street’s crowd worrying about recession risks, Buffett is also not concerned—on the contrary, he is more focused on the risk that the U.S. dollar may be facing losing its status as the world’s reserve currency.

Recent market volatility “nothing serious”

Under the impact of the Iran war, international oil prices surged in March. The S&P 500 index fell 4.63% in the first quarter, recording the worst quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2022.

Like everyone else in the market, Buffett has also noticed the sharp pullback of major U.S. stock indexes in recent weeks. But unlike the anxious Wall Street crowd, Buffett’s conclusion is: At present, it’s nothing serious.

“Since I took over Berkshire, the stock price has fallen more than 50% three times. This time doesn’t count for anything.”

After serving as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway for sixty years, 95-year-old Buffett stepped down earlier this year, but he still participates in investment decisions.

He said that the recent modest market pullback will not change Berkshire’s investment philosophy: looking for companies that are worth holding long term at reasonable prices—“Our purpose in investing is not to achieve only 5% or 6% returns.”

Not going to make a move in the short term

As of the end of 2025, Berkshire holds more than $373 billion in cash and Treasury bills. Buffett confirmed that this week, the company again bought $17 billion worth of Treasury bills at an auction.

For others, with such a huge cash reserve in hand, they probably would find it hard to stay patient. But Buffett is not like that. He said, that money will not be used until he sees real opportunities: “If the market experiences a sharp decline, then we will invest.”

This patience comes from Buffett’s widely known investment principle—he has always been waiting for prices to fall to the point where they can justify long-term investing, just as he did decades ago when dealing with American Express and Western Oil.

Buffett did not express agreement with talk of any particular danger in the current market, but he did point out that too many investors do not give their investments enough time—that is the real long-standing problem.

“If (investors) buy a stock and then just wait 50 years, and if they can get a few stocks like that, they will definitely do very well,” he said. “The American capitalist system is effective, and it’s not successful to fight the dealers.”

Worried that the dollar’s status is under threat

Buffett said that compared with what the Wall Street crowd talks about—recession risks—what he is more concerned about is the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency.

He noted that the stability of the banking system is far more important than any single market change, and recalled the situation during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, when even the largest companies stopped answering the phone.

On inflation, he believes that back in March 2020, it was right for the Federal Reserve to take action quickly and cut rates sharply, but after that, keeping interest rates at such low levels for too long may have been too much.

He also expressed skepticism about the Fed’s 2% inflation target. “I would like them to set a zero-inflation target,” he said. “Once you start saying you can tolerate 2% inflation, over time, that situation will deteriorate rapidly.”

As for the many uncertainties in the current market—tariffs, the Iran war, and a turbulent first quarter—Buffett’s outlook is similar to what he has predicted over the past decades: “I have no idea where the stock market is going, and I think others are the same.”

(Cailian Press, Liu Rui)