I Invest Like Warren Buffett

Many people including myself are fans of Warren Buffett. Well, he is the greatest investor of our time and that's a fact despite what's happening lately. Alright, I shall go straight to the point.

"Losing" His Midas Touch

Let's talk a little about criticisms on Buffett lately. To put it in simply, he is losing money. He bought some derivatives which showed him quite a bit of paper losses. He bought Goldman Sachs which isn't doing that well either. He is holding tons of shares that are beaten to some cool values. So many people, like those during the tech boom days, are coming out to criticise him. They are condemning his buy and hold and tons of stuffs.

The criticisms are pretty obvious and I totally disagree with what they say. I see Buffett differently. This is a man who lives in a simple middle class house, drives a simple car and contributes back to the society. In other words, he doesn't care about money. Of course he will probably feel pissed that he loses money through investing. What I mean is that money is merely stakes in his eyes. Somehow, he never loses these stakes (I wish so too...).

But what's happening today is something different. Imagine this on morning papers: "Buffett is selling most of his holdings". What will happen? What I see is a great person who is trying to emulate J.P Morgan during the 1907 Bank crisis. Remember that Buffet is the one who criticizes derivatives, dot coms, persistent trade deficit. He knows what's going on. There is also a reason why he is speaking out so often these days, telling people that he is buying certain stocks and giving his opinions about the future of the economy. He hardly said anything in the past. This is so unlike him. There is definitely a reason why he is doing certain stuffs these days.

"Investing" Like Warren Buffett

But I feel that there is a dangerous trend among investors today especially those young ones. I actually talk to quite a number of people and this is what I feel. Maybe I'm a little extreme but this is just me. Most people normally claim that they are affected by Warren Buffett. They "see" values in stocks. They are optimistic for the long run and many more stuffs that are related to three words - buy and hold. In fact, they have simplified "Buffettology" in these three simple words.

Quote Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler".

There is so much more into a real true Buffettology and yet most people who claim to know what value investing is, simply anchor their mind on buy and hold. I'm not trying to discredit buy and hold. When it is time to buy and hold, you simply do so. When it is time to go on the short side or do some trading, then you ought to forgo buy and hold. Buffett is so brilliant because he can see the great bull run in the 1980s. He can probably see the future of the great nation USA. The nickname Oracle of Omaha is so true.

Looking more in depth, there is a reason why Bershire has been holding lots of cash for quite a period of time. I don't know. Maybe I'm so wrong. Maybe by printing more money can really solve this whole pile of mess which is created by a whole lot of money in the first place. It happened during the Great Depression. It happened with Japan. It is happening now. It seems very obvious to me though I'm just a normal investor from a normal local university in a tiny island on the whole map.


We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.

Warren Buffett