Buffett says U.S. investors shouldn't act on headlines

Omaha, Neb. - Billionaire Warren Buffett said Monday that Europe will have a hard time resolving its fiscal problems because of the structure of the European Union and this weekend's election results in Greece and France.

But he says the turmoil in Europe won't keep him from investing. Buffett said Berkshire plans to buy two U.S. stocks Monday that it already holds to add to its stakes in those companies.

"I think the worst mistake you can make in stocks is to buy or sell based on current headlines," Buffett said. He did not identify the two stocks he planned to buy.

Buffett appeared on CNBC on Monday morning, two days after meeting with more than 30,000 people at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s annual meeting.

Berkshire's chairman and CEO said Europe has "got a lot of problems. They'll solve them, but not without a lot of pain."

Buffett said part of the challenge is that the European Union's 17 countries don't have similar monetary policies. He said it's not surprising that people in Greece and France voted against the pain of austerity.

He said he wouldn't hesitate to buy a European business if he found an attractive one to add to Berkshire's portfolio of more than 80 companies, including the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, Geico insurance and MidAmerican Energy.

Buffett said American banks are in much better financial shape than European counterparts because of measures taken during the financial crisis. He said the United States already injected more capital into its banks and forced them to clean up their balance sheets.

"We have a whole different banking system in the United States. Plus, we have our own currency," he said.

But Buffett said he avoids buying into businesses like Facebook because it's too hard to estimate what they might be worth.

Buffett said he doesn't really have an opinion on Facebook and Google because it's hard to determine their value and how they will fare in the future.