The best course of action is to take almost no action, in Buffett's
view. Stick to what you know, which is probably nothing. Buy a basket of
500 stocks, a smattering of bonds, and forget about it for the next 100
years or so. Treat investing this way and you'll actually beat the
experts in the long run, Buffett says.
"The goal of the nonprofessional should not be to pick winners --
neither he nor his 'helpers' can do that -- but should rather be to own a
cross section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well,"
Buffett writes. "A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this
goal."
Oh, and you should definitely stop listening to those experts, he writes:
"Because
there is so much chatter about markets, the economy, interest rates,
price behavior of stocks, etc., some investors believe it is important
to listen to pundits -- and, worse yet, important to consider acting
upon their comments," Buffett writes, adding: "In the 54 years [partner
Charlie Munger and I] have worked together, we have never forgone an
attractive purchase because of the macro or political environment, or
the views of other people."
This is a direct shot at CNBC, Bloomberg TV and any other outlet full
of talking heads claiming to tell you how to make money. It's a direct
shot at the hedge funds charging huge fees for their supposed investing
wizardry, even as they are consistently trounced
by those dumb S&P 500 index funds. It's a direct shot at the
brokers who make commissions on unnecessary and unhelpful trades and at
mutual funds that rake in fees
with "active management." It's a direct shot at the newsletter writers
and tea-leaf readers who claim they can time the market using Hindenburg
Omens or Death Crosses or zodiac signs or whatever.
Here's another shot at the business model of CNBC, and much of the financial-news industry:
"If you can enjoy Saturdays and Sundays without looking at stock prices, give it a try on weekdays," he advises.
Zing!
It's true, though. It's hard to think of information much less useful
to you than daily stock prices. Unless, of course, those stock prices
are collapsing, in which case it's usually a great time to buy more
stocks.
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