Wall Street Roundup: Warren Buffett’s optimism. Bernard Madoff calling.

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Gold: Trading now at $1,413 per ounce, up 0.3% from Friday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 12,223.27, up 0.8% from Friday.

Buffett’s optimism. Warren Buffett sent his annual letter to shareholders on Saturday and expressed great optimism about the American economy, saying ‘America’s best days lie ahead.’

Madoff calling. Bernard Madoff has made a series of collect calls to a writer for New York magazine in which he has asked if he is really a bad person.

Buying Twitter. JPMorgan is chasing Goldman Sach’s recent Facebook deal by preparing to buy a stake in Twitter, valuing the social-networking company at more than $4 billion.

Wall Street at the Oscars. Charles Ferguson’s cinematic take-down of Wall Street won the Oscar for best documentary; Ferguson used his speech to point out the lack of criminal prosecutions of Wall Street executives.

Imaginary derivatives. A number of banks are marketing credit default swaps on General Motors bonds, despite the fact that the underlying bonds don’t exist.

Wells wins. Wells Fargo is showing up more sophisticated banks with its emphasis on basic consumer banking products.

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York