About six months ago, Warren Buffett, the man who is known as the world's greatest investor, made multi-billion dollar investments in General Electric and Goldman Sachs. Since then, GE's shares have fallen by almost 75%, while Goldman Sachs shares have lost more than 50%.
Of course, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought preferred shares(优先股) that are paying about 10% a year in dividends(红利, 股息), with a right to convert the investment to common shares later, when hopefully, both stocks will have recovered. So, as long as both companies stay in business and continue to pay the dividends, Berkshire Hathaway's investment may ultimately be fine.
But what about the individual investors who followed Mr. Buffett's lead and invested in the common stocks of GE and Goldman? And what about holders of Berkshire Hathaway itself, which is currently trading at half of its all-time high reached just last September? If you're managing your own portfolio(全部投资, 投资组合), what do you do now with these three stocks?
Navigating The Do-it-Yourself Route
You can buy shares of GE, Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway or any other publicly traded company in seconds for a commission of less than $10. With just a few keystrokes, you can make a big investment in China, or gold, or crude oil(原油) futures(期货), or even the bond market using low-cost exchange-traded funds.
The question is no longer can you invest in these securities on your own, but should you? Ask yourself:
* Do you have a sensible strategy for selecting investments?
* Do you have an equally disciplined strategy for deciding when to sell them?
* Do you have the time to monitor these investments?
* Do your investments fit together in service of your long-term goals?
* Are you sure you can afford the amount of risk you are taking on?
* Can you really make better decisions than portfolio managers who do this every day with the support of research analysts and sophisticated(富有经验的) computer programs?
If you answered no to any of these questions, now may be the time to reassess(再评价) if doing it on your own makes sense. Of course, there are some people who manage their own assets very well. But in a market as bad as this one, it's likely that there are far too many investors who simply can't handle the strain and are making emotional decisions, or are frozen into making no decisions at all.
Managed Money: More than Asset Allocation(资产配置)
With two terrible bear markets(空头市场, 熊市) following asset bubbles(资产泡沫) that were widely acknowledged before they popped, today's economic and investment environment for the great majority of investors requires more than just diversification through asset allocation, a collection of mutual funds or even the best online trading tools.
I believe that the solutions people are looking for go beyond staying the course or advice on which stock, sector or country is going to outperform over the next year. Most of us recognize that not opening our statements is not a good strategy, that this financial crisis requires thoughtful action. The best place to start is with a proven investment advisor that you can trust, someone who is actually dealing with the situation as it is now — an advisor who can help you look at your goals and needs, develop a plan of action to get you there, and then be there to adapt to changing circumstances, whether in your life or in the markets.