Owen

Where's the Smartest Money Investing?

Retail mutual fund holders have a history of pulling out their money at the worst possible times. The last record for equity mutual fund redemptions (as percentage) was in 1988. As we know, that was followed by the biggest bull market in history, with over 400% return to those who stayed in.

The biggest inflows into equity mutual funds was in 1999 and early 2000, just before the tech bubble burst.

When you see mutual fund holders running, your best bet is to run the other way.

Warren Buffett Accumulates NRG Energy, Ingersoll-Rand and Union Pacific

Rong,

The price of Berkshire stock carries a substantial premium over the price of the stock portfolio it holds. This premium may or may not be justified; Buffett himself prefers buying shares of IR and NRG to buying back shares of BRK, and for a good reason too: he doesn't consider the price of BRK shares to be a bargain, unlike that of IR and NRG.

Berkshire is not a mutual fund or an ETF. If the primary insurance and reinsurance businesses of Berkshire falter, an investor may do much better by holding KO, PG, WFC, AXP and the other stocks in the portfolio than by owning shares of BRK.

Following Buffett's Railroad Tracks

Ethanol can indeed be transported in pipes. Several such pipelines are already being planned; see www.pennenvironment.or...