The trade deficit is up, unemployment is sky high, and Coronovirus is taking thousands of lives a day. Negative news with sweeping impact is coming out daily.
Should you integrate macroeconomic news into your investing strategy?
Warren Buffett says no.
“We don’t really pay attention to that sort of thing,” Buffett said at the 2004 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting.
He went on to point out that “You could’ve sat down in 1974, when stocks were screaming bargains, and you could’ve written down all kinds of things that would have caused you to say, you know, the future is going to be terrible.”
As Buffett noted, the stock market has survived wars, pandemics, and all kinds of negative news.
“You know, the Dow went from 66 to 10,000-plus in the hundred years of the 20th century, Buffett explained. “And we had two world wars . . . . There‘s always problems in the future, there’s always opportunities in the future. And in this country the opportunities have always won out over the problems over time.”
So, don’t let the size of the federal deficit scare you out of making a well-researched investment in an individual stock.
Buffett’s full explanation of macroeconomic factors and investing
See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series
© 2020 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.