Warren Buffett is still investing for the long term????

[Cranky]

Why not....after all, he's only 93 and now owns 26% of OXY.

 

[kiwigtx]

"Richest man in the cemetery syndrome" catches another.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I’ve read his biography, and numerous other books on him. It was always about the process with him, the money was just fruit of the tree.

 

[Cranky]

I’ve read his biography, and numerous other books on him. It was always about the process with him, the money was just fruit of the tree.

So you know how he started making money as a young kid then.....yeah, he's interesting to say the least.

 

[gkent]

Birkshire Hathaway is his fund - its not all "his" money. So he has to maintain what he's committed to his investors. It has nothing to do with his age, wealth or anything else. If you manufacture widjets and you're still doing it at 93, that's no reason to produce fewer or poorer quality !!

 

[Cranky]

Birkshire Hathaway is his fund - its not all "his" money. So he has to maintain what he's committed to his investors. It has nothing to do with his age, wealth or anything else. If you manufacture widjets and you're still doing it at 93, that's no reason to produce fewer or poorer quality !!

Yeah, but Warren is worth over 100 billion too and he has permission from the fed to buy up to 50% of the company.....not that he will but has that option to do so. He has the money to buy out OXY.

 

[Detective D]

Anyone that is willing to make that kind of money and never stop trying for more is not trustworthy. That type of person has no moral fiber. Everything around them is a means to increase their net worth, including people.
That crowd also does not factor their own death into things. To them, they will never die, and will spend their money to lengthen their life. That sounds normal, until you combine it with the first sentence I wrote. Then crimes against humanity are not off the table.

 

[Photon440]

Anyone that is willing to make that kind of money and never stop trying for more is not trustworthy. That type of person has no moral fiber. Everything around them is a means to increase their net worth, including people.
That crowd also does not factor their own death into things. To them, they will never die, and will spend their money to lengthen their life. That sounds normal, until you combine it with the first sentence I wrote. Then crimes against humanity are not off the table.

I haven't had any conversations with Warren Buffett, but he doesn't seem like the usual rich person. He merely enjoys doing what he is good at - managing companies. He lives in the same modest house he bought in the 1950s, drives a ten year old car (mid range Cadillac) and has given tens of billions to charity.

 

[kiwigtx]

I haven't had any conversations with Warren Buffett,

I'm struggling to remember the last time Warren and I spoke also......

 

[Detective D]

I haven't had any conversations with Warren Buffett, but he doesn't seem like the usual rich person. He merely enjoys doing what he is good at - managing companies. He lives in the same modest house he bought in the 1950s, drives a ten year old car (mid range Cadillac) and has given tens of billions to charity.

Charity is meaningless when you have more money than you could spend in 100 lifetimes, and it is typically used as a means to transfer wealth around or open doors previously closed for some other reason with that crowd. As it relates to judging character, that is. Which is more meaningful- a zillionaire gives a million dollars to an "awareness" charity to be spread around the organization's hand selected, nepotistic administration staff, or the person on the verge of homelessness giving some of the little food they have to a neighbor so they don't starve?

Legacy matters to all these rich people.

Carnegie was remembered as some kind of saint for his philanthropy. Carnegie was a scum of the earth. His name has lost it's clout as the newest crop of people following in his footsteps want to outshine him.
Having a degree of separation from the soul crushing acts against your fellow man in the name of profit, or two or three degrees even, does not remove the acts. Publicity stunts and staged interviews don't either.
It is not possible to accumulate wealth at that scale and maintain good will, respect, and decency to everyone affected by your actions and decisions. Even if he spends his autumn years being a "good guy", did the ends justify the means?

 

[XS22J8R]

I’ve got a friend who has always been somewhat obsessed with investing, and always scheming to make money including day trading and gambling. We used to talk about stock investing which I’ve been interested in since I was in college 40 years ago, but I had to put a kibosh on those subjects talking to him about, as I got tired of listening to him brag about all the money he was supposedly making with his trades and at casinos, even though his lifestyle never has changed despite all the money he claimed he makes.
One time when powerball was around 1 billion, I told him I had zero interest in playing and wouldn’t have a clue how to spend that amount of money even if I did with the almost zero chance I’d win. He replied “I would!!!”.
How, I wonder? As I try to plan retirement I’m realizing I am not sure I’ll burn through much of my retirement and outside investment portfolio built through decades of “buy and hold”unless I really step it up. It’s actually a dilemma for me, though I can think of far worse problems to have!
I’m not very religious, but I believe greed like my friend has is one of the deadly sins? But isn’t envy also, like seems to be the case when I hear people (and certain politicians I hate) attacking billionaires?
So what is there to make of guys like Buffet, Musk, Gates? Are they mostly good, or mostly evil. They hold huge amounts of wealth which many argue isn’t “fair”. Yet I have the impression many don’t understand that the economy isn’t a “zero sum game”. The economy, markets etc grow over time, so someone amassing a billion doesn’t mean that billion came from the pockets of others. They by and large created that wealth.
The Buffets and Gates of our country have probably done more to help millions achieve financial independence, created their jobs, buy homes, send kids to college, retire comfortably, then the people they might have hurt with their business dealings. Which I admit happens, for example, a lot of folks in my area who worked for Kraft lost jobs when Buffet merged Kraft and Heinz, closing Krafts campus here and cutting many jobs.
I don’t claim to have all the answers, just I thought as a long time investor I’d share my thoughts and points I’ve pondered.
In the meantime I have also been pondering what to do with my Microsoft stock I invested a couple grand in 30 years ago, and now pays me that much each year with its paltry dividend yield.
I probably should sell it and spend my gains someday, I didn’t buy it then intending to be my estate when I died. So what to do?
Damn that greedy rich bastad Bill Gates!!!

 

[SlingLow]

The Buffets and Gates of our country have probably done more to help millions achieve financial independence, created their jobs, buy homes, send kids to college, retire comfortably, then the people they might have hurt with their business dealings.

I would remove the word 'probably' from that sentence. You could also add 'development of millions of products that enhance and streamline our lives'. Henry Ford was quite wealthy, but he brought the motorized vehicle to the masses. Steve Jobs had some bank, but he revolutionized the world of personal electronics. Gates? Well, I'm typing on one of those computer thingys right now. Seriously, can you imagine a world without the transportation, connectivity, productivity and life enhancing tools and equipment we have today? We NEED these guys and they all have my respect for their accomplishments without holding them to sainthood.

Buffet isn't even close to this league. He figured out how to find businesses with value and bought them, or bought into them, with great success. He's not brash, boastful, or in any way in-your-face with his wealth. I believe he has pledged the bulk of it to charity. Not sure where the vitriol comes from.

 

[XS22J8R]

agreed, but as I alluded to, the vitriol mainly comes from envy I believe.
Look at Musk, he’s one of the richest people in the world now, but what an innovator he is! The majority of EV cars I see on the road are Teslas, the big 3 seem to be mostly falling on their faces with their EVs. His Space X rockets are doing much of the work NASA and other governments did, undoubtedly much more cost efficiently, people wondering what a line of stars they see at night is, maybe ufos? Nope, Musks starlink satellites!
How does someone so world changing not deserve to be a billionaire?
I‘ll have to ask AOC, she could tell me why.

 

[Detective D]

agreed, but as I alluded to, the vitriol mainly comes from envy I believe.
Look at Musk, he’s one of the richest people in the world now, but what an innovator he is! The majority of EV cars I see on the road are Teslas, the big 3 seem to be mostly falling on their faces with their EVs. His Space X rockets are doing much of the work NASA and other governments did, undoubtedly much more cost efficiently, people wondering what a line of stars they see at night is, maybe ufos? Nope, Musks starlink satellites!
How does someone so world changing not deserve to be a billionaire?
I‘ll have to ask AOC, she could tell me why.

My comments have nothing to do with envy.
Buying out the competition is a "smart business move" It also spurred anti-trust laws because the public at large realized a monopoly on anything is a generally bad thing for society as a whole.
Except those anti trust laws have been manipulated by people like Buffet and Gates to get around them, and the politicians have been bought so no one pursues the little that remains. This results in a very, very few achieving something that was supposed to be outlawed for the good of the country. Why do you think Gates went to congress in the 90's? it wasn't to prove he was right, it was to set precedent for the new normal. It was staged.

The stock market at it's core is supposed to be a good thing for business. People can invest in the up and coming, provide financial support and get dividends when it works out. Up to the investor to choose the winning company right?
But then it was determined everyone's retirement should be based on it, and not simple savings. So a massive influx of money from people that don't actually want to pay attention to the market happened, who benefitted from that? When the markets crash down, retirement funds get hit bad, while a select few never seem to take as bad a hit. Smart investing? Remember, every time a buy sell transaction happens, SOMEONE HAD TO BUY. that means someone that didn't lose out, did so by unloading onto someone that did. And the someone in the last big crash was 401k hedge funds. That is not by chance.
Combine this with revocation of Glass-Steagal, so now banks that had been outlawed since the great depression from using profits and interest money from speculative trading are allowed in. They were outlawed, because it is the public's money that had nothing to do with the market. Interest gained from car loans, home mortgages, all the stuff that used to be returned as interest on savings is legal to dump on the market. And when it goes bad, "too big to fail" OOPS, I mean "FDIC INSURED" means the public pays for that.
These changes were lobbied for by, guess who, the Gates/buffet crowd.
The market has been twisted into a big money filter for the few to always win and the mass public to always pay for. It shouldn't be that way. It was made that way by the few.

Remember the pipeline being cancelled? Big news. Lobbied for, so a certain person could maintain their income stream using his train line. The whole country gets to pay the extra for it. One tiny example from over decades of this stuff.

The money goes to lobby, so they can manipulate laws to make more money, laws put in place for the good of the public and our country.
it is fine to use 401k hedge funds to unload bad stocks. because it is legal.
it is ok to use the public's mortgages as leverage for gambling(stocks) because it is legal.
The billionaires lobby, to make it legal.

This is what the politicians are talking about when they get at the podium and start screaming about the "rule of law".

I don't envy any of those people. They are scum, they sacrifice their fellow men to line their pockets. I do well enough, would like more, but I am not willing to stoop to climbing on the backs of my neighbors to achieve it. My retirment is going to be very modest, and very late in life, and I am fine with it. It can be hard to see the big picture for those that started their journey in the 80's when things weren't quite so bent out of shape yet, when things were still outlawed and monopolies were still hunted down.
The billionaires are not "our friends". Does anyone really think, or can honestly tell themselves, those people got where they are by having other people's best interest at heart? C'mon man. There is only one person who's interest they have, and they see them in the mirror. Anyone that benefits besides them is simply a coincidental associate. Selfishness in itself is not a terrible sin. But when it is taken to the extremes it has been by this crowd, it turns into one. "Fair" has nothing to do with this. Sociopathic personal drive to gain at any cost to anyone else is not a benefit to our country or society, and is certainly not to be admired! Stop making excuses for their pathological behaviors!