BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

January's massive volatility is reminiscent of a story Warren  Buffett told at his Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in 1992.  He made these comments.  As you read them, please consider how much they resonate today.

"In any business, there are going to be all kinds of factors that happen next week, next month, next year, and so forth.  But, the really important thing is to be in the right business.  The classic case is Coca-Cola, which went public in 1919.  They initially sold stock at $40 a share.  The next year , it went down to $19.  Sugar prices had changed pretty dramatically after World War I.  So you would have lost half of your money one year later if you had bought the stock when it first came public; but if you owned that share today - and had reinvested all of your dividends - it would be worth about $1.8 million.  We have had depressions.  We have had wars.  Sugar prices have gone up and down.  A million things have happened.  How much more fruitful is it for us to think about whether the product is likely to sustain itself and its economics than try to be questioning whether to jump in or out of the stock."

                                                                                                                        WARREN BUFFET