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h2so4
23-08-2008, 09:40 AM
When Warren speaks we should all listen.
6 part 3hour video and transcript recorded live on CNBC Sqawkbox today.http://www.cnbc.com/id/26337298

lakedaemonian
29-08-2008, 07:55 AM
I am becoming increasing concerned about recent comments made by Warren Buffett.

Historically, he had been a massive but generally quiet mover and shaker.

In the past year he has been anything but quiet.....far from it......you can hardly watch anything in regards to finance on TV without his face/voice being seen/heard.

It is a very noticeable change.

What also has changed is his tune, in my opinion.

In recent years he's used his quite important "derivatives = weapons of finance mass destruction" and parable/story analogies in venues like Fortune Magazine to occasionally make a point known about his serious concerns in regards to the US economy.

But lately he has become a very big and noticeable rah, rah cheerleader........

It has been noticed by many amateur contrarians when he was part of the panel discussing the new movie IOUSA, he appears to be taking the role of head cheerleader in that everything will be OK, sunshine, and rainbows going forward.

I hope he is right and I am completely off the mark.....but while I will continue to keep abreast of Buffett's public comments and known positions of Berkshire Hathaway........I am inclined to read into his comments, rather than accept them at face value.

I hope I am completely wrong, but I get the sense he is an active participant in "talking up" incredibly fragile markets.

Halebop
29-08-2008, 08:09 AM
I am becoming increasing concerned about recent comments made by Warren Buffett.

Historically, he had been a massive but generally quiet mover and shaker.

In the past year he has been anything but quiet.....far from it......you can hardly watch anything in regards to finance on TV without his face/voice being seen/heard.

It is a very noticeable change.

What also has changed is his tune, in my opinion.

In recent years he's used his quite important "derivatives = weapons of finance mass destruction" and parable/story analogies in venues like Fortune Magazine to occasionally make a point known about his serious concerns in regards to the US economy.

But lately he has become a very big and noticeable rah, rah cheerleader........

It has been noticed by many amateur contrarians when he was part of the panel discussing the new movie IOUSA, he appears to be taking the role of head cheerleader in that everything will be OK, sunshine, and rainbows going forward.

I hope he is right and I am completely off the mark.....but while I will continue to keep abreast of Buffett's public comments and known positions of Berkshire Hathaway........I am inclined to read into his comments, rather than accept them at face value.

I hope I am completely wrong, but I get the sense he is an active participant in "talking up" incredibly fragile markets.

An interesting view lakedaemonian. I'd tend to agree that anyone, no matter how rational, is inclined to talk their book. I'm still mostly cash and have unsurprisingly been happier than most to highlight falling shares and various economic risks.

Huang Chung
29-08-2008, 09:20 PM
I am becoming increasing concerned about recent comments made by Warren Buffett.

Historically, he had been a massive but generally quiet mover and shaker.

In the past year he has been anything but quiet.....far from it......you can hardly watch anything in regards to finance on TV without his face/voice being seen/heard.

It is a very noticeable change.

What also has changed is his tune, in my opinion.

In recent years he's used his quite important "derivatives = weapons of finance mass destruction" and parable/story analogies in venues like Fortune Magazine to occasionally make a point known about his serious concerns in regards to the US economy.

But lately he has become a very big and noticeable rah, rah cheerleader........

It has been noticed by many amateur contrarians when he was part of the panel discussing the new movie IOUSA, he appears to be taking the role of head cheerleader in that everything will be OK, sunshine, and rainbows going forward.

I hope he is right and I am completely off the mark.....but while I will continue to keep abreast of Buffett's public comments and known positions of Berkshire Hathaway........I am inclined to read into his comments, rather than accept them at face value.

I hope I am completely wrong, but I get the sense he is an active participant in "talking up" incredibly fragile markets.

I just think he's smitten with Becky Quick ;).

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg (http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg&imgrefurl=http://woxy.lala.com/boards/showthread.php%3Fp%3D1299952&h=727&w=483&sz=37&hl=en&start=2&usg=__OXj9KJxHhMzVhEHEP-LIsGjzOOA=&tbnid=C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbecky%2Bquick%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26s a%3DG)

h2so4
30-08-2008, 07:17 AM
I just think he's smitten with Becky Quick ;).

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg (http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg&imgrefurl=http://woxy.lala.com/boards/showthread.php%3Fp%3D1299952&h=727&w=483&sz=37&hl=en&start=2&usg=__OXj9KJxHhMzVhEHEP-LIsGjzOOA=&tbnid=C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbecky%2Bquick%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26s a%3DG)

Hahahahahaha!!!!! Who knows??????????? Hahahahahah!!!

beacon
03-09-2008, 04:27 PM
lately he has become a very big and noticeable rah, rah cheerleader........

It has been noticed by many amateur contrarians when he was part of the panel discussing the new movie IOUSA, he appears to be taking the role of head cheerleader in that everything will be OK, sunshine, and rainbows going forward.



Just browsing outside my familiar patch ... and saw your interesting comment. He has been very honest so far. Why do you think he'll want to change now? Was one of the first to call a recession a recession months ago, while economists paid through the public purse are still undecided. He was also one of the first to opine that he saw long term pain.

Political pressure do you think, or a new convert? He has delved publicly and more noticeably in derivatives in the recent past. Maybe time will tell ...

lakedaemonian
04-09-2008, 03:15 PM
Just browsing outside my familiar patch ... and saw your interesting comment. He has been very honest so far. Why do you think he'll want to change now? Was one of the first to call a recession a recession months ago, while economists paid through the public purse are still undecided. He was also one of the first to opine that he saw long term pain.

Political pressure do you think, or a new convert? He has delved publicly and more noticeably in derivatives in the recent past. Maybe time will tell ...

I agree completely that Buffett was early to the party in calling for careful/conservative fiscal/monetary change.......usually a gentle but serious reminder that a BIG problem is potentially looming.

He did it "way back when" with the dot-com boom/bust as well......read his quotes back then carefully.....there are often several layers to his carefully worded quotes.

He has usually partnered with Carol Loomis(Fortune Magazine) and very FEW others in sharing his thoughts publically(besides his annual shareholder letter) for mass consumption.

Historically, he's been quite media shy unless it relates to being a customer of the products his company produces/sells.

NOW, he's the business equivalent of Paris Hilton.........big name, but nothing of substance coming from his mouth.

Paris Hilton says, "That's hot."

Buffett says, "We're going to be fine."

I'm not buying it........those are words reserved to calm the lemmings from their inevitable dive off the cliff

Credit crunch wave II looming
US monetary/fiscal policy yin/yang is NOT very fung shei at the moment
US Social Security funding hot potato
US private + state and local government pension chaos
US incredibly expensive foreign policy

Business will always go on.......but I think Buffett is shining a really big turd

Once things settle though, and as long as Berkshire Hathaway isn't TOO exposed to complex derivatives they'll have the cash to pick up the pieces for pennies on the dollar.

I wouldn't be suprised if Buffett's being approached by BOTH parties to consider naming his successor, retiring, and accepting a position as Presidential Advisor/Financial Chaos Band-aid Applier.

If Buffett's trying to calm markets, rather than speak his occasional bit of carefully worded harsh truth either things are even more fragile than believed or he's being tapped on the shoulder.

Just my amateur opinion.

lakedaemonian
09-09-2008, 08:15 PM
Very late last night Paulson was on CNBC spruking his Freddie/Fannie bailout plan........immediately followed by a CNBC staffer dragging Buffett to a phone borrowed from a resort community retailer, here's a taste:

Buffett: Treasury 'Did Exactly the Right Thing'

In stepping in to bail out and recapitalize collapsing home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson "did exactly the right thing," said billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

"I wouldn't change anything in the plan myself," Buffett said in an interview on CNBC. He said he expects this step will go a long way in calming the market and resolving the ambiguity surrounding the two companies.

"It's best deal and the most sensible deal available now," he said. "Now, you can argue that there should have been some different rules put in decades ago, and it wouldn't have come to this."
The government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday, launching what could be the biggest federal bailout ever, in an attempt to shore up the U.S. housing market and ward off more financial market turbulence.

"If Bear Stearns was an 8.5 on the financial Richter scale, this was about a 9.9, or something of the sort," Buffett said. "The government really had no choice but to do something. And then the question is: did they do the most sensible thing, and they did do that." Buffett said.

According to Buffett, the size of Fannie's and Freddie's portfolios helped get them into trouble.

What is at stake for taxpayers, is impossible to determine at this time, he said. In order for the Treasury to lose money, both the common shares and the preferred shares will have to get wiped out, and "that very well could happen," Buffett said.

Essentially, the Treasury is "on the hook" for the depth of the housing downturn, Buffett said.

moimoi
09-09-2008, 08:30 PM
I just think he's smitten with Becky Quick ;).

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg (http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg&imgrefurl=http://woxy.lala.com/boards/showthread.php%3Fp%3D1299952&h=727&w=483&sz=37&hl=en&start=2&usg=__OXj9KJxHhMzVhEHEP-LIsGjzOOA=&tbnid=C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbecky%2Bquick%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26s a%3DG)

It was Becky that had come off the beach and scuttled up to the hardware store to call Warren....maybe your onto something huang lol.

what was interesting from the interview was that Paulson had called Buffet (who hastily suggested he had nothing to do with the bailout plan) a day prior to making the announcement.

cheers
Moi

oh and Becky is a hottie ;-)

lakedaemonian
10-09-2008, 10:53 AM
It was Becky that had come off the beach and scuttled up to the hardware store to call Warren....maybe your onto something huang lol.

what was interesting from the interview was that Paulson had called Buffet (who hastily suggested he had nothing to do with the bailout plan) a day prior to making the announcement.

cheers
Moi

oh and Becky is a hottie ;-)

Maybe I'm just paranoid.....but it all seemed quite bizarre........Hank Paulson being lobbed softball questions with a -3 on a question hardness scale of 1 to 10, followed IMMEDIATELY by Buffett sounding like he had a gun to his head...maybe I'm reading far too much into it.....but it's feeling very much like the power players are displaying a very unified front that is out of character for some.

The only high profile dissenting voice I'm hearing is, of course, Jim Rogers :)

And yes...Becky is hot

beacon
10-09-2008, 04:12 PM
Maybe you are right, maybe you are not. But remember, in the final analysis it was a firm (half or full, regardless) step in the right direction. And Buffet acknowledged that, whether he played a part or not in it. Collusion maybe, but for a right and good cause. Rejoice. A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step. This panic prevalent in the markets can't go on forever....

lakedaemonian
11-09-2008, 04:36 PM
Berkshire tightens insurance for bank deposits
Wednesday September 10, 12:36 pm ET
By Ieva M. Augstums, AP Business Writer
Berkshire Hathaway subsidary in Kansas to stop insuring bank deposits above FDIC limit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- A Kansas company that is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has stopped selling private bank deposit insurance above the amount guaranteed by the federal government, signaling that billionaire investor Buffett may be worried about future bank failures.

ADVERTISEMENT
Kansas Bankers Surety Co. confirmed Wednesday that it has ceased soliciting new clients for their "bank deposit guaranty bonds," a product that backs deposits above the $100,000 limit that is guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for many bank accounts.

It also plans to cancel existing policies in coming months.

"We still insure a lot of deposits in a lot of banks and that did not stop Monday," said Chuck Towle, a senior vice president of the Topeka, Kan.-based company. "We are not offering the product any more."

Towle said that existing policies would be recalled, and that eventually, "we are going to withdraw from the market."

Towle declined to comment on why his firm was leaving the business, and he wouldn't confirm or deny Buffett's involvement.

A spokeswoman for Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway said the company did not have an immediate response.

Kansas Bankers Surety's decision to stop providing the coverages comes amid a rising number of bank failures nationally, including one in its backyard -- Columbian Bank and Trust Co. of Topeka, Kan.

Eleven federally insured banks have failed this year.

Some of those failed banks were acquired by institutions that bought all deposits -- insured and uninsured -- and made them available immediately to customers. Other uninsured depositors were able to recover only part or none of their funds.

The FDIC backs deposits of as much as $100,000 on most accounts or $250,000 on some retirement accounts.

Companies such as Kansas Bankers Surety offer private bank deposit insurance to help banks attract and keep wealthy customers who may want to deposit more than $100,000 at their institution.

Banks buy coverage usually at the request of a large depositor, and then relay any fees associated with coverage to the customer.

"It's a credit enhancement," said Scott MacDonald, head of the Southwest Graduate School of Banking Foundation at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "It's a way of enhancing the credit quality of your investment."

Whether or not a company continues to offer such a product, "I think it really comes down to whether or not the market's perception of the value equals the cost of them doing it," MacDonald added.

"It looks as if they made a business decision," MacDonald said.

An examination this year of Kansas Bankers Surety by state regulators showed the company was strong and financially sound, Kansas Insurance Department spokeswoman Cynthia Price said.

The company, which has 18 employees according to Berkshire Hathaway's 2007 annual report, also provides other insurance products, including director and officer, safe deposit, employment practices, check fraud and Internet coverage.


Hmmmmmmmmm............talking things up quite publically, while simealtaneously reducing exposure?

Do as I say, not as I do?

sounds disengenuous to me..........

STRAT
12-09-2008, 11:18 PM
If Buffett's trying to calm markets, rather than speak his occasional bit of carefully worded harsh truth either things are even more fragile than believed or he's being tapped on the shoulder.

Just my amateur opinion.
Excellent thread lakedaemonian.

" tapped on the shoulder" has a sound ring to it.:D

Mind you Im rather partial to a good conspiracy theory.;)

h2so4
13-09-2008, 11:18 AM
I think it's Becky who is tapping on Warrens shoulder???:D

lakedaemonian
13-09-2008, 12:01 PM
I think it's Becky who is tapping on Warrens shoulder???:D

She seems to have quite frequent access to him, seemingly more so than his regular journalistic partner Carol Loomis.

Warren did have a somewhat uncommon arrangement in regards to his personal life, but with Warren's consistent history of strong judgement and governance on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, I'd think it's safe to say that the health risks involved with getting funky with Becky would be negative for BRK shareholders, preventing him from doing so, so my conspiracy theory still stands! :)

Of course, there is the possibility that Warren may be prepared to name his successor shortly and he's just partying like a rockstar and planning on going out with a bang. :)

But on a serious note, here's another blurb:


Since 1996, it has been owned by Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is led by legendary investor Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The decision to drop coverage appears to have been made “somewhere up the chain,” according to Max Cook, president of the Missouri Bankers Association, which is the sole agent for Kansas Bankers Surety’s private deposit insurance in Missouri.

I can only think of one extraordinary reason to exit bank deposit insurance exceeding the FDIC $100k limit:

Buffett think's bank runs are more than just a slim possibility and will result in a total collapse of this insurance category

I don't think this is a questions of Buffett thinking it's a question of simply out of whack risk/reward proposition on the insurance offered....his core business units are insurance and they have a LONG history of NOT exiting insurance categories.....BRK companies simply raise premiums until they achieve an underwriting profit and let Warren focus on achieveing a premium investment profit.

Warren also tends to take a hands-off approach to subsidiary company operations, with his job being to suck up cash excess to needs and investing elsewhere.

BUT, he has stepped in on occasion to make command decisions.....I'm thinking this decision MAY have his fingerprints or that of his key sidekick and possible successor Ajit Jain


An e-mail message that banks received from the Kansas Bankers Association painted the decision in somber tones and said it too was seeking alternatives.

“We recognize this is a very serious situation, both for your bank, and for the KBA as an organization,” said the message to Kansas banks’ chief executive officers.

Kansas Bankers Association officials did not return a call for comment.

The message told bankers they would receive notice from Kansas Bankers Surety asking the banks to surrender the bonds as quickly as possible.

Cook said he understood that banks had 60 days to find alternatives for the customers who were covered.

After that, Kansas Bankers Surety will send cancellation notices directly to the depositors. The notice will give the depositors 90 days before coverage ends.

Banks that have used Kansas Bankers Surety deposit guarantee bonds said coverage was limited at each bank and was only one of the options they suggested to customers seeking protection beyond the FDIC limits.

shasta
24-09-2008, 08:57 PM
She seems to have quite frequent access to him, seemingly more so than his regular journalistic partner Carol Loomis.

Warren did have a somewhat uncommon arrangement in regards to his personal life, but with Warren's consistent history of strong judgement and governance on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, I'd think it's safe to say that the health risks involved with getting funky with Becky would be negative for BRK shareholders, preventing him from doing so, so my conspiracy theory still stands! :)

Of course, there is the possibility that Warren may be prepared to name his successor shortly and he's just partying like a rockstar and planning on going out with a bang. :)

But on a serious note, here's another blurb:



I can only think of one extraordinary reason to exit bank deposit insurance exceeding the FDIC $100k limit:

Buffett think's bank runs are more than just a slim possibility and will result in a total collapse of this insurance category

I don't think this is a questions of Buffett thinking it's a question of simply out of whack risk/reward proposition on the insurance offered....his core business units are insurance and they have a LONG history of NOT exiting insurance categories.....BRK companies simply raise premiums until they achieve an underwriting profit and let Warren focus on achieveing a premium investment profit.

Warren also tends to take a hands-off approach to subsidiary company operations, with his job being to suck up cash excess to needs and investing elsewhere.

BUT, he has stepped in on occasion to make command decisions.....I'm thinking this decision MAY have his fingerprints or that of his key sidekick and possible successor Ajit Jain

Buffett buys into Goldman Sachs

10:35AM Wednesday Sep 24, 2008

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is investing at least US$5 billion in Goldman Sachs Group.

The announcement today from Goldman involves preferred stock that carries a dividend of 10 per cent.

Berkshire also will receive warrants to purchase US$5 billion of Goldman's common stock with a strike price of US$115 per share. The shares are exercisable at any time for a five-year term.

Goldman is also raising at least US$2.5 billion in a public offering.
US stock index futures surged in extended trading after the surprise announcement.

Goldman Sachs shares shot up 8.4 per cent after the news, closing at US$125.05, up $4.27.

"It's clearly a positive when Warren Buffett sees value in a company.
Buffett is so highly regarded as an intelligent value investor, if he's putting a lot of money into a company that's been beaten down, it sends a message to the market that maybe not every financial company should be ignored at this point,".

Richard Sichel, chief investment officer of Philadelphia Trust, told news agency Reuters.

At last report, Berkshire had total assets of nearly US$278 billion, including significant stakes in companies such as Wells Fargo & Co., American Express and the Washington Post Co.
- AP

CAM
03-10-2008, 08:44 AM
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12342006

Wonder if he wants a small island nation in the South Pacific to add to his collection??

lakedaemonian
03-10-2008, 09:25 PM
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12342006

Wonder if he wants a small island nation in the South Pacific to add to his collection??


Well that's rather cozy....Warren Buffett, via Berkshire Hathaway, Via GE, Via NBC, now co-owns CNBC.

The propaganda cycle is complete!

lakedaemonian
03-10-2008, 09:28 PM
Buffett buys into Goldman Sachs

10:35AM Wednesday Sep 24, 2008

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is investing at least US$5 billion in Goldman Sachs Group.

The announcement today from Goldman involves preferred stock that carries a dividend of 10 per cent.

Berkshire also will receive warrants to purchase US$5 billion of Goldman's common stock with a strike price of US$115 per share. The shares are exercisable at any time for a five-year term.

Goldman is also raising at least US$2.5 billion in a public offering.
US stock index futures surged in extended trading after the surprise announcement.

Goldman Sachs shares shot up 8.4 per cent after the news, closing at US$125.05, up $4.27.

"It's clearly a positive when Warren Buffett sees value in a company.
Buffett is so highly regarded as an intelligent value investor, if he's putting a lot of money into a company that's been beaten down, it sends a message to the market that maybe not every financial company should be ignored at this point,".

Richard Sichel, chief investment officer of Philadelphia Trust, told news agency Reuters.

At last report, Berkshire had total assets of nearly US$278 billion, including significant stakes in companies such as Wells Fargo & Co., American Express and the Washington Post Co.
- AP

I wonder if Warren's sudden dumping of cash is a signal he believes that the inflation tsunami is on the horizon?

I reckon he's quite premature.....time will eventually tell of course.

If he dumps money into some commodity producers....like PetroChina 2.0 I'm thinking that would be a gigantic flag for his belief of pending inflation.

Stranger_Danger
04-10-2008, 12:39 PM
Warren was also premature in making it clear that you can't get rich by living in a house, by pointing out the follies of subprime before it was a well known word, slamming excessive CEO pay and linking it to destructive short term thinking and calling derivatives weapons of financial mass destruction.

He was also right.

shane_m
18-10-2008, 06:11 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html

THE financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary.

So ... I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are 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. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Let me be clear on one point: I can’t predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven’t the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.

A little history here: During the Depression, the Dow hit its low, 41, on July 8, 1932. Economic conditions, though, kept deteriorating until Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933. By that time, the market had already advanced 30 percent. Or think back to the early days of World War II, when things were going badly for the United States in Europe and the Pacific. The market hit bottom in April 1942, well before Allied fortunes turned. Again, in the early 1980s, the time to buy stocks was when inflation raged and the economy was in the tank. In short, bad news is an investor’s best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America’s future at a marked-down price.

Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.

You might think it would have been impossible for an investor to lose money during a century marked by such an extraordinary gain. But some investors did. The hapless ones bought stocks only when they felt comfort in doing so and then proceeded to sell when the headlines made them queasy.

Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts.

Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree. Those investors who cling now to cash are betting they can efficiently time their move away from it later. In waiting for the comfort of good news, they are ignoring Wayne Gretzky’s advice: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”

I don’t like to opine on the stock market, and again I emphasize that I have no idea what the market will do in the short term. Nevertheless, I’ll follow the lead of a restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then advertised: “Put your mouth where your money was.” Today my money and my mouth both say equities.

Warren E. Buffett is the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, a diversified holding company.

Huang Chung
10-03-2009, 12:39 AM
Yep, Warren sure is one smart guy.......


http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg (http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg&imgrefurl=http://woxy.lala.com/boards/showthread.php%3Fp%3D1299952&h=727&w=483&sz=37&hl=en&start=2&usg=__OXj9KJxHhMzVhEHEP-LIsGjzOOA=&tbnid=C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbecky%2Bquick%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26s a%3DG)

lakedaemonian
01-05-2009, 01:35 PM
Buffett faces a grilling from investors

By Francesco Guerrera and Justin Baer in New York

Published: April 30 2009 19:21 | Last updated: April 30 2009 19:21

Warren Buffett will be under pressure at Saturday’s annual gathering of faithful shareholders to explain his worst year ever, with the usually adoring crowd set to probe the legendary investor on his bargain-hunting strategy, succession plans and views of the crisis.

Buffett-watchers say this year’s meeting of shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway, his candies-to-insurance group, will depart from the usual pattern of deferential questions and folksy answers and witness some criticism of the billionaire investor.

“The hard questions will be asked this year,” said James Altucher, a hedge fund manager and author of Trade Like Warren Buffett. “There will be people who always stand by him and others who will ask: ‘Have you lost your way?’”.

Berkshire was unavailable for comment. But people close to Mr Buffett say he has been preparing for tough questions from some of the 25,000-plus investors expected to converge on his native Omaha to attend an event he once called “the Woodstock for capitalists”.

Mr Buffett’s supporters say his long-term record remains stellar and vastly superior to the stock market and that, even during a tough 2008, Berkshire’s shares outperformed major indices and most fund managers.

But criticism of the “Sage of Omaha” would be particularly unwelcome at a time when the 78-year-old investor is looking to preserve his legacy and pick a successor for the roles of both chief executive and chief investment officer.

As the financial crisis and the global economic slowdown raged, Mr Buffett stayed true to his “value investing” credo, buying stakes in blue chips such as Goldman Sachs and General Electric whose shares had slumped. But his motto of being “fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful” could not prevent Berkshire from losing 9.6 per cent in book value per share – the metric that Mr Buffett uses to measure his performance – in 2008. That was Berkshire’s worst performance since 1965 when Mr Buffett bought a struggling textile-maker and turned it into a wildly successful investment vehicle.

“I think he took his eye off the ball a bit,” said Douglas Kass, a general partner at the hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management, who reversed his short position on Berkshire recently and began buying the stock. “He was encumbered by a buy-and-hold strategy which to some degree ignored the carnage that was going on.”

Mr Buffett has admitted doing “some dumb things” last year, such as buying shares in the oil group ConocoPhillips when crude prices were at a peak and purchasing stock in two small Irish banks whose price later plummeted.

His call to retail investors to buy shares in US companies, made in a New York Times editorial in October, has also not worked out. The S&P 500 is about 6 per cent below levels seen when Mr Buffett wrote the article. But he has always maintained he is unconcerned by short-term market movements because of his long-term outlook.

His performance in 2008, for example, was hit by his large exposure to the ailing US financial sector, which includes stakes in American Express and Wells Fargo. Yet the recent rally in banking stocks appears to have helped Berkshire, whose shares have risen more than 30 per cent since their lows in March.

h2so4
21-10-2010, 06:33 PM
Yep, Warren sure is one smart guy.......


http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg (http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bianj.org/Gala%2520Images/Becky%2520Quick.jpg&imgrefurl=http://woxy.lala.com/boards/showthread.php%3Fp%3D1299952&h=727&w=483&sz=37&hl=en&start=2&usg=__OXj9KJxHhMzVhEHEP-LIsGjzOOA=&tbnid=C7aIMyGKtBUXGM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbecky%2Bquick%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26s a%3DG)

I thought Buffett's simple messages had real clarity in this video.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39724884

Valuegrowth
05-01-2015, 06:32 PM
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/did-you-listen-to-warren-buffetts-advice-in-october-2008-real-time-insight-cm217377

Did You Listen To Warren Buffett's Advice In October 2008? - Real Time Insight

kiora
01-03-2015, 04:44 AM
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11409874

Baa_Baa
01-03-2015, 08:08 PM
Superb. Thanks for the reminder, all too often it is easy to focus on the now and the immediate future when in fact investing is the long game, with an insightful eye for value.

Appreciate your post MW,

BAA


http://www.nasdaq.com/article/did-you-listen-to-warren-buffetts-advice-in-october-2008-real-time-insight-cm217377

Did You Listen To Warren Buffett's Advice In October 2008? - Real Time Insight