Warren Buffett likes down days "because we buy 'em cheaper." But, other than that, he doesn't pay much attention to market volatility.
"I'm no good on what's going on in markets. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow or next week," the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway told CNBC. "Sometimes they get very volatile like this and other times they put you to sleep, but the important thing is where they're going to be in 5 to 10 years. And I'm confident that they'll be considerably higher in 10 years, and I really have no idea where they'll be in 10 days or 10 months."
Buffett shared his views on the recent market volatility and overall economy during an interview Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk Alley."
"If we're buying a stock we usually try to buy a given percentage of the volume that trades that day. Same way if we're selling, although we don't sell that often," Buffett said. "So, down days I like because we buy 'em cheaper and we don't try to really figure out what's going on in markets. I've never been any good at it."
That being said, he doesn't necessarily see the recent pullback in the markets as a reason to be buying.
"We're buying because we like what we're buying in relation to its long-term prospects," he told CNBC.
On the overall U.S. economy
To Buffett, the economy may not be as strong as the most recent numbers look.
"I think we're still on that path we've been on for six years where it's growing at 2 percent to a little bit better than 2 percent annually," he said. "And that's not a bad rate, but it's not a booming rate, either."
That's why Buffett warns about getting "too excited" when looking at the quarterly GDP statistics, which he sees as misleading.
