I have tremendous respect for Mr. Buffett. But every word that comes out of his mouth should not be looked upon as prophecy, or the gospel truth. I get a feeling that Buffett has been canonized into a value investor saint – investors and the media worship the ground he walks on and the air [...]
I have exciting travels for the next couple of months: I’ll be giving a talk about Active Value Investing to the Bermuda CFA Society on February 11th. On the way to Bermuda my wife and I will spend three days (February 7-9th) in NYC. Then, as a Valentine’s present to each other, we’ll spend four [...]
I am a Capitalist Pig, and proud of it, thus you would not expect me to support government interference and more strenuous regulation of financial institutions – after all, capitalism (free markets) and tight regulation don’t mix well. Well, at the risk of been kicked out of the Capitalistic Pig Party, I am in support [...]
The Chinese economy must be getting out of control, because the Chinese government is doing the unthinkable: It is desperately trying to put the brakes on the economy. When you pump a stimulus package that represents 14% of GDP through a fire hose into an economy, which was already on shaky bubble foundation, in a [...]
I understand why investors don’t want to own Pfizer (PFE); there is little excitement in the stock: It is down significantly from the Viagra-high it reached in 1998. Yes, Pfizer is the maker of Viagra, the drug that spawned a slew of commercials that made TV unwatchable (especially if you have little kids who ask [...]
The stock market’s performance over the next decade will be very similar to the one since 2000: the WSJ appropriately named it “the lost decade.” Stocks will go up and down (setting all-time highs and multiyear lows), stagnate, and trade in a tight range. At the end of this wild ride, when the excitement subsides [...]
AS THE NEW YEAR OPENS, THE stock market is behaving as if the past 20 years were about to repeat themselves: Another recession will turn into a robust expansion. Stock prices already are discounting an earnings recovery to something only slightly below the level before the financial crisis. Risk-taking is in vogue again. The global [...]