Buffett seems to criticize Trump and deplores the shortage of letters in Berkshire's letter

(Reuters) – On Saturday, Warren Buffett blamed US President Donald Trump for over-crediting the country's economic growth, while acknowledging that the market conditions make it difficult for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. business to find more big companies.

Buffett lamented these situations in his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders.

According to Berkshire, falling stock prices and a sharp depreciation of its investment in Kraft Heinz Co resulted in a $ 25.39 billion loss in the fourth quarter. Many of its more than 90 companies, such as car insurer Geico and the railway BNSF, have performed well.

Buffett, 88, said Berkshire's success was partly due to the "American tailwind" that had allowed the country to enjoy "an almost unbelievable prosperity."

He said that since he had begun investing in 1942, seven Republican presidents and seven Democratic presidents had overseen prosperity and had acquired it in a bipartisan way, even in times of war and financial crisis.

Trump often takes credit for optimistic economic information, especially on Twitter.

Buffett, who supported Hillary Clinton during her 2016 White House run, said no one should do it.

"It's beyond the arrogance for American businesses or individuals to boast of having" acted alone, "Buffett writes.

Buffett, whose company invests in the Chinese automaker of electric cars BYD Co, has also formulated an indirect criticism of Trump's boasting about US economic performance, including compared to other countries such as China.

Buffett said the United States should "rejoice" when other countries have a bright future.

"Americans will be both prosperous and safer if all nations prosper," he wrote. "At Berkshire, we hope to invest significant sums across borders."

The White House was not immediately available for comment. Berkshire did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

LOOKING FOR ELEPHANTS

One of the reasons Buffett is looking to invest abroad is that he struggles to find big investments at home and does not expect this to change soon.

Berkshire has not made a major acquisition since it paid $ 32.1 billion to the Precision Castparts aircraft parts manufacturer in January 2016.

Buffett said the short-term prospects for more acquisitions were "not good" because prices are "exorbitant" for companies that had decent long-term prospects.

While Buffett said that the prospect of an "elephant-sized acquisition" was making his heart beat faster, "the reality was that Berkshire would likely use some of its $ 111.9 billion cash to buy more shares.

Berkshire ended the 2018 fiscal year with $ 172.8 billion of stock, but many of them suffered a double – digit price drop during the quarter, including a 30 – year decline. % of its biggest stake, the manufacturer of Apple iPhone Inc.

These declines were a major factor in Berkshire's huge quarterly loss and its 91% decline in full-year net earnings.

US stocks have risen since the end of last year, but the main S & P index did not recover all losses in the fourth quarter.

The results were also impacted by a $ 3.02 billion write-down of intangible assets that, according to Buffett, was "almost entirely" attributable to Kraft Heinz, in which Berkshire holds a 26.7% interest.

The packaged food company shocked investors Thursday by declaring its own $ 15.4 billion write-down on Kraft, Oscar Mayer and other assets, and said the US securities regulators were reviewing its accounting practices.

Although dated Saturday, the Buffett letter to shareholders is written well in advance and does not report recent setbacks by Kraft Heinz or 3G Capital, the Brazilian company and Buffett's trading partner that runs the company on a daily basis.