Comments on Dividend Growth Investor: What I learned from Warren Buffett’s Most Recent L...

check the point and figure graphs....wallstreet is...

2009-07-26T07:28:36.603-07:00

check the point and figure graphs....wallstreet is gaming you ..and there will be a double bottom retest--and the calmity will be used to make a nother run up higher or lwoer....watch the emas and the earnings..

Nice sleuthing, but personally I think he just saw...

2009-03-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

Nice sleuthing, but personally I think he just saw more value on the crazy terms he's been able to get on his most recent investments.

For instance, he sold some ConocoPhilips, but that has really fallen, which sort of undermines the 'held their value' theory.

It's a tough time for dividend investors, if they invested in financials.

You might be interested in a post I did recently on how a UK-based dividend portfolio has fared in the bear market:

http://monevator.com/2009/02/23/how-the-bear-market-hit-the-high-yield-portfolio/

I still have to check out how the income is held up (I know, the whole point but it's so difficult) but I'd estimate it's fallen 10-20%.

Good luck as ever! :)

I am disappointed that JNJ was sold in favor of wh...

2009-03-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am disappointed that JNJ was sold in favor of what is being held now.

Good post there. I came across a few other report...

2009-03-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

Good post there. I came across a few other reports of his annual letter this weekend, and I am surprised at Buffett admitting that he made mistakes on purchasing ConocoPhilips at its peak, and also investing in Irish banks.

I can see how it would be easy to get caught up in oil in the last couple of years given the demand and supply situation, but for someone that does not believe in debt leveraging, I am very surprised at his investment in banks, particularly Irish banks that were possibly only second to the US and UK in making risky loans.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D96KQ9VG0.htm

HIS OWN MISTAKES

Buffett wrote he "did some dumb things in investments" in 2008.

"Last year I made a major mistake of commission (and maybe more; this one sticks out). Without urging from Charlie or anyone else, I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. 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. Even if prices should rise, moreover, the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars.

"I made some other already-recognizable errors as well. They were smaller, but unfortunately not that small. During 2008, I spent $244 million for shares of two Irish banks that appeared cheap to me. At yearend we wrote these holdings down to market: $27 million, for an 89 percent loss. Since then, the two stocks have declined even further.

"The tennis crowd would call my mistakes 'unforced errors.'"