Buffett: 'Financial Panic Is Behind Us'

Warren Buffett says the worst is over. "The financial panic is behind us," he declared at Columbia University. The Berkshire Hathaway chief acknowledged that the US economy "still is sputtering some," but he sounded a bullish note on investment opportunities around the globe. While he gave "high marks" to Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner, he advised against future bailouts, reports Reuters. "More sticks are called for."

Buffett also shed more light on his huge purchase of Burlington railroad. "There will be more people in this country, 10, 20, 30 years from now," he said. "They'll be moving more and more goods back and forth to each other, and the most environmentally friendly and cost-efficient way of doing that is railroads." (More Warren Buffett stories.)