Buffett says he's buying U.S. stocks

Billionaire financier and Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Warren Buffett greets shareholders during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska in this May 3, 2008 file photo.

(Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is buying U.S. stocks, he wrote in an opinion column in the New York Times.

"A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful," Buffett wrote in the paper.

Buffett acknowledged the economic news was bad, with the financial world in a mess, unemployment rising and business activity faltering.

"What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up," he said. "So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over."

Buffett, who made his money by building his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N)(BRKb.N) into a $199 billion conglomerate, wrote that investors were right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions.

"But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation's many sound companies make no sense," he said.

Buffett said major companies would suffer earnings hiccups, but added they "will be setting new profit records five, 10 and 20 years from now."

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; editing by Sue Thomas)