Buffett: We’re Permabulls

The man has amassed a net worth in excess of $70 billion through the purchase of stocks. There is little point in asking him if he likes them now, since his bias is obviously skewed to the upside.

Nevertheless, old man Buffett did cast aspersions on stock picking and reiterated his belief that index funds are the preferable method by which investors should approach the market, alluding to his will and how his wife will be 90% in index funds, 10% government bonds.

When asked about the drop in crude, he said it was a bullish event for consumers. However, the prices realized at the pump take time to resonate with the average Joe dressed in a gorilla suit.

Asked whether he’s concerned about the stock swoon, Buffett said “not that much” has changed from his viewpoint in the past five months or so because he’s a more aggressive buyer of stocks when the market is going down.

“We’re almost always a buyer of stocks,” he said. “It’s hard to think about many months when we weren’t a net buyer of stocks.”
Buffett reiterated his mantra that it’s “crazy” to time the market. “In 10 or 20 or 30 years, I think stocks will be a lot higher then they are now.”

“It’s what I tell me wife to do in my will,” he continued. She’s going to be 90 percent in an index fund. And 10 percent in governments.”

Giving investors an idea of his commitment to the market, he said he bought stocks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and after the 1987 stock market crash. “The country is not going to go away,” he said. “The country will grow in value over time.”
The billionaire investor said he bets on American business doing well over the long term, though he acknowledged that businesses have been “a bit softer” than they were four to five months ago.

Buffett said low oil prices “without a doubt” are good for consumers, but the benefits at the gas pumps come very slowly, while the capital values in the American oil patch go away immediately.