other lics, page-52

Hi ITBlack,

I agree, ARG, is an excellent long term investment.

The question of relativities still applies. The compounding effect can be dramatic.

You mention Warren Buffett. Buffett is a series of contradictions.

Buffett probably uses some market timing principles in many of his investments. There is no doubt he is not in the classic chart reading group.

However, in 1969, he famously closed his hedge fund (yes, Virginia, a hedge fund) and returned the money to investors. He did that at just the "right time". Also, famously, he said, in 1974, "I feel like an oversexed guy in a whorehouse." Of course, that was just the right time. 1974 was the end of the bear market of the seventies. He was probably looking at charts (yes, Virginia, charts) of bond rates, the Fed rate, and inflation.

Buffett credits influences from Graham and Fisher, yet Fisher has been described as the opposite of Graham ("The Essential Buffett" by Robert Hagstrom).

Buffett now dabbles in all sorts of esoteric investments including currencies and precious metals - a long way from value investing.

He also, contrary to mythology, trades a lot of stocks short term - just read the Berkshire-Hathaway Reports.

So - when quoting Buffett - be prepared to hear the opposite. Like many people adopting the persona of the "homespun philosopher", what he does is often very different from what he says, or at least, what people think he said.

Cheers
Red