Buffett: I'm Buying American. You Should Be, Too.

When fear is rampant, the markets discount America's future

By Clay Dillow, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 17, 2008 9:32 AM CDT

(Newser) – “I’ve been buying American stocks,” Warren Buffett writes in the New York Times, and he'd like to see a stampede of others following suit. Sure, the financial system is a mess, global economies are faltering, unemployment is rising, and headlines will continue to terrorize markets. But markets will repair themselves, says the Oracle of Omaha, and those who wait for "the comfort of good news" will lose out.

While short-term fluctuation can’t be avoided or predicted, he's confident that "most major companies will be setting new profit records 10, 15 and 20 years from now.” His mantra—“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”—tells him to move now, when the market is awash in fear. In short, he says, "bad news is an investor’s best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America’s future at a marked-down price."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett eats ice cream at a Dairy Queen diner in Omaha, Neb., as he chats with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in this file photo. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, FILE)

Investor Warren Buffett greets investors during the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, May 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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Investors who cling to cash now are betting they can efficiently time their move away from it later. They are ignoring Wayne Gretzky’s advice: 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.' - Warren Buffett

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 Buffett

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Buffett: I'm Buying American. You Should Be, Too.