19 Feb 2009 Prem Watsa of Fairfax Financial likes stocks of high quality companies for the long term ( Portfolio )
We have been negative on common stocks for 4 or 5 years, and hedged our positions. But we stopped hedging in December and have bought long-term valuable, big companies with good, tested management such as Johnson & Johnson, Dell Computers, Kraft Foods, Wells Fargo, Intel and others. We believe these will pay off five years from now.

U.S. municipal bonds always sold at a lower yield than US treasuries because one is tax free and the other is taxable. In the fourth quarter, we were able to sell Treasuries, yielding pre-tax 3 to 3.5%, and have been buying munis yielding an average of 5.75% after tax. This is unheard of. We bought minis guaranteed by Berkshire Hathaway [Warren Buffett's company].

The U.S. reacts quickly, as opposed to Japan. But it's a question of pessimism which means it's not a bad time to buy for the long term.