Warren Buffett: The financial panic is over (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett, perhaps the world's most admired investor, said on Thursday the financial panic that gripped the globe last year is a thing of the past, even as the U.S.

Warren Buffett, perhaps the world's most admired investor, said Thursday the financial panic that gripped the globe last year is a thing of the past, even as the U.S. economy's struggles persist.

The Nasdaq is back at all-time highs.  After closing at 5,048 back in March 2000, the Nasdaq took more than 15 years to close above that level, closing at 5,056 on Thursday to make a new record closing high. During the day on Thursday, the S&P 500 also breached an intraday record high. 

Warren Buffett’s massive stake in Suncor Energy Inc. could spark investor interest in the battered stocks of Canadian oil sands’ companies, according to analysts. Mr. Buffett had acquired 17.7 million shares of Suncor by June 30, according to a U.S. regulatory filing by his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

By Katia Dmitrieva, Kristine Owram and Doug Alexander Home Capital Group Inc. defended Warren Buffett’s purchase of shares at a deep discount, saying the investment has bolstered confidence in a mortgage lender that was on the verge of collapse just a month ago. “We’ve seen a dramatic improvement in depositors since the Buffett announcement,” interim Chief Financial Officer Robert Blowes told reporters at the annual meeting in Toronto Thursday.

The various and many ways in which the TSX influences how transactions are structured has been on full display this past week. The most recent example occurred Thursday when Home Capital Group announced it had received an equity infusion from Warren Buffett that could be as much as $400 million — as well as a $2 billion credit facility from the same source.

By Tom Metcalf Warren Buffett had $1.4 billion wiped from his fortune Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Co. fell 3.3 per cent as the fallout continued from revelations that bank employees had opened more than 2 million accounts without clients' approval. Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the lender's biggest shareholder, fell 2 per cent, causing the 86-year-old's fortune to drop more than anyone else's on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The US investor is the world's fourth-richest person with a net worth of $65.8 billion.