A new study by Gerald Martin of American University and John Puthenpurackal of (wait for it) the University of Nevada, called “Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery," has found that if you buy the same stocks as Warren Buffett, you will make a lot of money. It’s a companion piece to an equally groundbreaking paper by the same authors which found that Goldman Sachs employs many individuals from an ethnoreligious group originatating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the ancient Middle East. The study found that investors mimicking the Oracle’s stock picks, even up to four months later, would earn an annual return of 24.6 percent, easily beating the S&P 500, which rose 12.8 percent during the same period. Based on these numbers, Martin and Puthenpurackal came to almost the preposterous conclusion that “"Warren Buffett appears to possess investment skill.” (No joke, they actually came to and wrote that conclusion.) Investors partial to mammary glands of the gigantic variety will be pleased to note that Buffett told M&P that when he’s having difficulty making a decision about a stock, one of his tried and true tricks is to stare at a rack not unlike that of Liz Claman’s (and, in many cases, that exact one) for two, maybe three minutes, and the answer will “just come” to him. So keep doing what you’re doing.
Earlier: You Say Harem, I Say Whorehouse
Buying What Buffett Buys Based on Filings Doubles S&P 500 Gains [Bloomberg]
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 12:39PM
what about Buffett's testimony re: death tax?
Posted by watchmen , Nov 16, 2007 12:45PM
Our airheads in Congress haven't made a decision and may not, if G.W. has anything to say about it.
Posted by cnbc plus , Nov 16, 2007 12:48PM
carney on CNBC now
Posted by Buffett Fan , Nov 16, 2007 12:50PM
The estate tax is good for America. So is Liz!
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 12:52PM
he looks like shit
Posted by Bob Fleming, a.k.a. Badger Watch , Nov 16, 2007 12:58PM
Check it out: Buffet is showing sock! He is posing in a creepily flirtatious, suggestive manner.
Posted by Josh , Nov 16, 2007 1:00PM
Carney's a scary looking guy and not for TV viewing. Doesn't Dealbreaker offer a dental plan? He badly needs to take advantage of one.
Posted by Lee D , Nov 16, 2007 1:10PM
"Warren Buffet know what he is doing" is an even more staggering conclusion than the wizards who concluded that there was a link between compulsive shopping and low self-esteem.
http://businessopinions.blogspot.com/2007/11/materialism-consumption-and-poor-self.html
It must be International Pointing Out the Obvious Day today.
Posted by The "Scoreboard" Guy , Nov 16, 2007 1:14PM
Scoreboard, Buffett!
Posted by DAT , Nov 16, 2007 1:17PM
I think his teeth are probably still messed up from when he got demolished by that car a while back
Posted by Lumbergh , Nov 16, 2007 1:18PM
I don't think it has much to do with investment skills at this point. It's more of a self-fulfilling prophecy: When individual investors learn that Buffet bought a certain stock, people will clamor for it in huge numbers, thus driving the price upwards. More equity investment means the company is more likely to keep performing well, thus increasing the price even further and so on.
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:22PM
please, please send Bess and not Carney next time CNBC calls?
Posted by LL Cool J , Nov 16, 2007 1:22PM
Buffet might be good at picking stocks but he should shut the F up when it comes to politics. The death tax is outrageous and only arrogant billionaires such as himself cannot see how it hurts small business. It puts well run small business into the corporate portfolios as the owners are forced to sell. But that's probably what he and Billy Gates want anyway. They're buying them up by the dozens.
Posted by Hmmmmm........ , Nov 16, 2007 1:24PM
Warren wasn't involved in any CDO or SIV shennangans was he?
What a smart, smart, smart man!
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:26PM
Bess, that's unfair, that is not really a quote from the article
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:27PM
or from the actual survey.
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:30PM
oh, really guys? buffett didn't say staring at breasts is one of his techniques for stock picking? SERIOUSLY?
you idiots are fucking retarded.
Posted by Anal_yst , Nov 16, 2007 1:35PM
Fo sho, Carney my old man is a oral surgeon or something, I'm sure we could work something out, I mean for the love of god man I know its from the accident, but that was how long ago?
Posted by For the Estate Tax , Nov 16, 2007 1:36PM
Rush and Sean are giving out old info on the estate tax or "death tax". Here is what they are saying now:
"Abolitionists say the estate tax forces the liquidation of family farms and businesses. In 2000, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 1,659 farms were liable for the tax, but fully 1,521 of these had sufficient liquid assets to pay without selling any land. In 2000, likewise, 485 taxable estates included a small business, but 321 of these could pay the tax without selling any of the firm. Moreover, heirs can spread estate tax payments over 14 years, so even those without liquid assets have plenty of time to take over the farm or firm, manage it productively, and thus generate the cash to pay the tax. So the estate tax wasn't forcing the fire sale of large numbers of family farms and businesses even in 2000, before the Bush tax cuts kicked in. Now that the amount that a couple can pass on tax-free has jumped from $1.3 million to $4 million, the mass-liquidation claim is even less accurate."
If Rush and Sean are for the death tax, so am I. Come on America! Defeat the liberals by supporting the "death tax".
Posted by LL Cool J , Nov 16, 2007 1:39PM
You're an idiot. Liberals are FOR the death tax. It's a transfer of wealth. It's not income. The tax is ludicrous.
Posted by sorry dude , Nov 16, 2007 1:40PM
anal_yst: his teeth have been like that for years
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:40PM
@1:30
I am starting to think that this is frustrated Bess posting all these comments about readers being "retarded idiots".
Bess might need a loooong break.
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:42PM
@1:40...bess wouldn't deign to
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 1:48PM
the sorry individuals such as Anal_yst that comment in this space really have nothing to offer. pathetic. really ugly.
Posted by For the Estate Tax , Nov 16, 2007 1:55PM
If the estate tax is abolished, the Terrorists will have won again.
The gigantic financial deficit our country has would be made worse by abolishing the "death tax". On your death bed, do you want our soldiers fighting terror around the world under-funded? Of course not. You don't want the terrorists to win!! Support the death tax and help defeat terrorists!!
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 2:04PM
@ 1:55
Surely you can't be serious.
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 2:10PM
@1:30 no you fucking moron, they did not write "Warren Buffett appears to possess investment skill.”
hell, grow a brain dipshit
Posted by , Nov 16, 2007 2:16PM
actually, idiot, they did say that (from cnbc):
The bottom line: "Warren Buffett appears to possess investment skill. This result is consistent with findings in a number of recent papers .. that argue that investment skill is more prevalent than earlier papers indicate."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/21834492/site/14081545
Posted by stat 101 , Nov 16, 2007 2:32PM
when they did these measurements were they buying stock in their portfolios proportionately to buffets buy in or were they just buying one stock of each company buffett invested in? also, a lot of their stats are incorrect like measuring wb's average return over 30 years doesn't mean that investors should start following his picks now. a lot of his picks in earlier years had like 10000% gains
Posted by Dan , Nov 16, 2007 2:37PM
First of all, I'm all for rack or even lungs but object to use of the term mammary glands. There's a libido here and it's married and fragile. Can't we get back to icing Bess's cookies? No doubt hosing those cumulous sweets down improves investment decision making- I'd even be willing to submit myself to test the hypothesis. Of course, multiple trials would be called for- at least 30 or so- before we could claim significance. Anything for science.
Posted by WWED Cap. , Nov 16, 2007 2:42PM
I've gota bucket of nose clams straight from the sea that's looking for a home.
Posted by Anal_yst , Nov 16, 2007 5:24PM
@ assclowns - Explain to me how offering to help Carney get his grill fixed is so bad again, yea, thats what I thought.
As for not "adding anything" to the discussion, I'm not sure if you're aware, but some of us have not recently become "liberated" from the duties of "working" during the day. So while you talk sh!t from your couch, some of us are in fact actually "adding something" other than comments on DB.