Warren Buffett answer reporters' questions at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. (Photo/China Business News)
U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett expressed confidence in the U.S. economy and praised immigrants in helping the U.S. economy to prosper in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.
"American business -- and consequently a basket of stocks -- is virtually certain to be worth far more in the years ahead," Buffett forecast in the letter released Saturday.
"Innovation, productivity gains, entrepreneurial spirit and an abundance of capital will see to that. Ever-present naysayers may prosper by marketing their gloomy forecasts," he wrote.
As a supporter to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in last year's U.S. presidential election, Buffett avoided mentioning neither politics nor Donald Trump's policies in the letter.
However, he did believe that the talented, ambitious immigrants have played a role in the prosperity of the U.S. economy.
"Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers," Buffett said.
The billionaire investor is on course to win a 2008 bet that an investment in the Standard & Poor's 500 share index would beat five hedge funds over 10 years.
However, his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, underperformed the S&P 500 share index for the fourth time in the last five years, according to a BBC report.
The growth in the company's book value was 10.7 percent in 2016, while the S&P 500 rose 12.0 percent, the BBC reported.
Berkshire Hathaway, headed by Buffett, owns dozens of U.S. stocks including Apple, Coca-Cola and the four biggest U.S. airlines.
