Legg Mason's Bill Miller Talks About The NYSE Takeover On Fox Business

Legg Mason Chairman and CFO Bill Miller spoke with FOX Business Network's (FBN) Liz Claman about being the second largest shareholder of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the bidding war between NASDAQ and Deutsche Boerse to gain control of the NYSE. Miller said “if it had to happen right now, clearly the NASDAQ deal” would be better for shareholders. He went on to praise Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett for the way he handled the David Sokol insider trading scandal saying “Warren has built up enough credibility over the past 50 years that something like this is certainly getting some difficult publicity but I don't think it alters anybody's sense of his reputation his ability his ethics.” Excerpts can be found below, courtesy of Fox Business Network. On the bidding war between NASDAQ and Deutsche Boerse for the New York Stock Exchange: “We have said publicly we thought the board should at least meet with NASDAQ to talk about this. The fact it is trading above Deutsche Boerse indicates the shareholders believe collectively that Deutsche Boerse is going to raise their bid or NASDAQ may increase their bid as well. If it had to happen right now clearly, the NASDAQ deal [is better] clearly because it is higher.” On David Sokol and the insider trading scandal: “I think Warren has built up enough credibility over the past 50 years that something like this is certainly getting some difficult publicity but I don't think it alters anybody's sense of his reputation his ability his ethics. I thought the board did the right thing by releasing that statement yesterday. That was a big move in the right direction but I think the press is being a little hard on him at this stage.” On Warren Buffett: “Warren is somebody who comes along once in a thousand years in terms of his ability to allocate capital. Nobody in the world has made more money than Warren solely though investing. So clearly that is his expertise. But Berkshire is more than just an investment company.” On whether Warren Buffett should have had tougher compliance regulations: “If you read the statement of the audit committee to the board the policies at Berkshire were certainly tough enough. It was pretty clear that kind of thing wasn't allowed. I think preclearance would have been a good idea and is a good idea now.” On the state of the economy: “Nobody has any idea, including me, whether we are close to the top or not. We went into the year bullish because all the conditions are in place for a good market. On opportunities in the market: “There are three areas of the market that we think offer significant opportunities; financials, technology, and healthcare.” On financials: “The most under weighted group in the market.”