Power Point: Buffett on 0% interest rates
Warren Buffett emailed this note to the directors of his company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tuesday after he heard that the U.S. Treasury sold $32 billion in 4-week bills at a yield of 0%:
“This should be bullish for Berkshire. With great foresight, I long ago entered the mattress business in a big way through our furniture operation. Now mattresses have become fully competitive as a place to put your money, and sales will soon take off.”
If you really want an investment that will take off, you should invest in carpets.
Nancy: What do you think the money market you invest in through your bank invests in? Yep..treasuries. So as every institution, government and money market owner sells assets, they place them in cash investments which are invested in the only liquid safe spot. This massive rush to safety has pushed the price of treasuries to a zero yield on short term. The .25% you currently earn on your deposits is effectively zero as well.
The FDIC guarantees up to only $250,000. The “people” buying 4-week T-bills are parking tens to hundreds of millions of dollars each. You can’t just put that in a checking account in a bank. Well, you can, but treasuries are safer.
Why are people buying three month government bonds that yield 0% when they can get a Citibank Checking Account that yield 0.25% and also fully guaranteed by the Federal Government?
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Patricia Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Can Meg Whitman Save California?", Melinda Gates ("The $100 Billion Woman"), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). And she has broken ground with insightful pieces on career management issues such as ego ("Get Over Yourself!"), and "Charisma: Do You Need It? Can You Get It?" Pattie chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. And she has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" cover package since its launch in 1998. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big consumer brand companies.
Jessica Shambora started with Fortune as a reporter in June of 2008, following a stint as assistant editor at Travel+Leisure Golf. Shambora has written for Sports Illustrated, SI Latino, Women's Health, and Triathlete. She is a frequent contributor to Postcards. 
A Memory Foam Mattres might be ideal for stuffing cash! We have a large selection to choose from. Thanks Warren for the recommendation! Visit http://www.AbsoluteComfortOnSale.com.