Another Buffett hypocrisy alert!
This 1982 letter that inveighs against the use of index derivatives. Recenlty Buffett heavily lobbied Congress to exclude provisions in the financial reform bill that would force Berkshire to pony up more capital for its short index derivative (puts) position… courtesy of Forbes:
Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.
"Money is power, & you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it." —Russell H. Conwell, Temple Univ, 1877
"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine" say the French as consumer confidence in May rose to the highest since Nov '10 as they welcome and get excited about new Pres Hollande. Also, the French 10 yr bond yield touched the lowest on record this morning. June consumer confidence in Germany held at 5.7, just .2 pts off the highest since Mar '11. To the euro bond debate which is now taking on greater rhetoric with those with high bond yields wanting them and those with low ones saying no way, ECB member...
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May 27th, 2010 at 7:25 am
Oh come on… Hypocrisy? Haven’t you ever changed your mind over the course of a conversation? How about over the course of 30 years? You know… going something like: “Ok, you make sense and I don’t!”
May 27th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I have to agree with Denis here. In addition to the 25 year time difference, Buffet is talking about futures in 1982, so mostly maximum 1 year contracts, and what he sold was 13 and 18 year puts on the S&P in 2007 iirc. You can’t conflate his argument for futures being short term gambling mechanisms to include a more than decade long position.