I previously discussed some of my thoughts on the energy sector, which looks oversold even in the context of the sudden bear market we have found ourselves in. In a nutshell, I believe that Saudi Arabia will not be able to sustain the current oil price war against the Russians and U.S. shale producers, for both economic and political reasons. I also came across a recent Yahoo Finance interview with Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) where he addressed this very issue - here’s what I found...

With stock markets around the globe tanking, many companies have found themselves in positions they did not think possible just a few months ago. Investors have been dumping equities in a frenzy in an attempt to move into cash, and seem willing to pay any price to do so. The Dow Jones fell almost 13% on March 16, marking the worst decline since Black Monday of 1987. The S&P 500 had its third-worst day in history. The Nasdaq had its worst day of all time. Extreme monetary measures like...

I’m a believer in the idea that successful investors need to understand and study history. The Mark Twain quote that “history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme” is definitely overused by financial commentators, but I think that just speaks to its enduring wisdom. Things will probably be different in the future, but not as much as you might expect. I recently came across part of an excellent interview Oaktree Capital's Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio) did with Michael Milken, in which...

Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) is often considered to be the greatest investor of all time, and with good reason - what he has been able to do with Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B) arguably dwarfs anything else in corporate America. However, in terms of annual returns, there are other investors who are ahead of Buffett. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) is at the head of that pack. The annualized average returns of his Medallion Fund before fees come out to a whopping 66%. How did he do it?...

There’s nothing like an unprecedented level of volatility to focus the attention of the investing public on the activities of traders. During calm times, most value investors are happy to make their long-term plans and deploy capital for lengthy periods of time, and are OK with waiting patiently for the market to recognize the intrinsic value of their underpriced investments. However, it is hard for even the most stoic value investor to sit still and buy stocks cheaply when prices are falling...