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 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  November 03, 2009 06:35 PM

Warren Buffet just invested $44 billion in Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. Should you follow, or go contrary?

Marektwatch discusses this purchase (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/buffett-the-empire-builder-2009-11-03 ) and its justification. However, Buffet is quoted as saying this is a bet on American industry over a decades-long time-frame. Should small investors pile in for the ride, or bet on a short-term pull-back once current economic woes reassert their existence?
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November 03, 2009 08:52 PM
Betting against Buffet (which is essentially betting against the market in this case) is a bit like betting against the house. In the short-term you might do okay, but the long-term trends are against you.

Your question is should you go with Buffet or bet on a short-term pullback - well, I suppose that depends on your time horizon and your willingness to take on risk. Buffet isn't making a short-term bet, so I wouldn't just jump into the market now because he is if you are looking at the short-term. In fact, if you believe strongly and your time horizon is short-term, you might want to bet the other way.

Just last October, Buffet wrote an op-ed for the NY Times saying he was buying stocks (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html). If you went along with him, you would have actually lost money by April of this year. Of course, you'd be up 10-15 percent at this point and seemingly on your way to nice long-term profits.

Buffet realizes that in the short-term the market often acts irrationally (getting overbought or oversold), but in the long-term, companies with solid balance sheets and good cash flows will generally be a nice investment.
Asker's Rating:
• I was alluding to the difference between short term (months, not hours or days like day-traders) and decades-long investment horizons. It seems you agree with me that for people who prefer being more active investors with a time horizon of less than a year, following Buffet may not be so helpful.


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