What Would Warren Buffett Do? - Timeless Strategies

The markets are once again in turmoil. Fears of recession in the United States and the continued fallout from the credit crunch are taking a big toll on markets around the world and the Wall Street was ready to tumbleat the open following a three-day weekend. The Federal Reserve has just stepped in with an emergency interest rate cut.

So, to help keep things in a longer-term perspective, it feels appropriate to revisit a very popular postfrom last summer with some timeless advice: What Would Warren Do?

Stocks have been on the proverbial "roller coaster ride", and that means increased nervousness for many investors. A series of triple-digit Dow moves, especially the losses, can make it tough to sleep at night.

But despite the turmoil, the angst, the worries for some, I have a strong feeling Warren Buffett is sleeping just fine. He's not looking at the day-to-day movements of the Wall Street indexes. He's looking for long-term investments in solid companies selling at a discount, as he always does.

A previous Watching Warren Buffett post, Buffett Basics for Troubled Times, touched on some of the timeless Buffett strategies detailed in a U.S. News and World Reports cover story. It's been a popular post, so I asked CNBC's Managing Editor Tyler Mathisen to videotape a short conversation with Buffett-watcher Alex Markels, a senior writer for the magazine and author of How to Make Money the Buffett Way.

The basic theme: What would Warren do when the markets are in turmoil? Tyler and Alex talk about the discipline needed to "smile and buy more" when a favored stock falls due to the whims of the market, but they also emphasize that today's market environment may not be actually generating any real opportunities for Buffett, who does not indiscriminately "buy on the dips."

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