Dancing
Citigroup Monthly Returns (2007-2009)
S&P 500 Monthly Returns (2007-2009)
“‘There are times when opportunities are just thrown at you so fast you can’t, you know, it’s unbelievable,’ the Berkshire chairman said. ‘And then there’s other times when you’re very, very lucky if you find one thing in a couple of years. And it should always be that the, the latter is what prevails… ‘But since humans love to gamble so much, there’s more money in, in actually cultivating gamblers than there are cultivating investors,’ he said.”
S&P 500 return (2022): (18.04%)
“The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. After a heady experience of that kind, normally sensible people drift into behavior akin to that of Cinderella at the ball. They know that overstaying the festivities — that is, continuing to speculate in companies that have gigantic valuations relative to the cash they are likely to generate in the future — will eventually bring on pumpkins and mice. But they nevertheless hate to miss a single minute of what is one helluva party. Therefore, the giddy participants all plan to leave just seconds before midnight. There’s a problem, though: They are dancing in a room in which the clocks have no hands.” — Buffett (‘00 Berkshire annual report)