I did dumb things, admits Warren Buffett

I did dumb things, admits Warren Buffett

www.theaustralian.news.com.au

WARREN BUFFETT admitted yesterday that he did "some dumb things" in 2008, as the world's richest investor announced that Berkshire Hathaway, his company, had its worst year on record.
In his annual letter to shareholders, Buffett said his investments lost $11.5 billion last year.

He also offered a gloomy outlook for the year ahead. "The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 - and for that matter, probably well beyond," Buffett wrote.

The firm was hit by the deteriorating economy, the collapse of the credit markets and share prices and the second-worst hurricane season on record.

Berkshire owns a wide portfolio of companies, including leading American insurers and has stakes in firms such as American Express, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs and Tesco.

This diversity and Buffett's cautious approach saved the firm from further losses, but he admitted that he contributed to the fall through some "dumb" moves of his own.

The man known as the "Sage of Omaha" said he spectacularly mistimed his purchase of Conoco Phillips stock last year when oil prices were near their peak. They have fallen by $100 a barrel since last July.

"I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current $40-$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong," he wrote.

Conoco Phillips shares closed at $37.35 on Friday, less than half the price they fetched last spring and summer when Buffett was buying.

Buffett also said he made a $244m investment in two Irish banks "that appeared cheap to me". At the year end Berkshire wrote down the holdings to their market value of $27

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This story will make anyone who has lost on the stock markets feel a little better myself included.

Buffett is self made and I dont think is is part of the NWO but even he got caught out last year big times

11.5 billion lost for the Oracle is a chunk regardless what you think of him he has been investing for over 40 years and started off with $ 25,000 back in the days
Peace& hope
SM

www.theaustralian.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 1-3-2009 by smokingman2006]

I don't think Mr Buffets only mistakes where a slew of bad stock buys. It was also thinking that he and he alone could help to instill in people the sense of trust they once had for the system as a whole.
Not just the markets but the whole of the system. He tried repeatedly in MSM interviews to get people to trust again in the hopes and dreams many had been raised with, but in the end it failed. This alone is why he lost so much. He was preaching trust and hope at a time when all people where hearing was fear and run for the hills.
Actually nothing has changed other than the fact that the whole of the world is now in a position to either step up to the plate as a people or stand down and let it all go to hell. This is by far the only choice there is left at this point. People need to start trusting in themselves and others again, not the markets, not the governments, themselves and those around them the world over.