The dip - a buying opportunity?

[roy]

Is this a buying opportunity? Looks like some of the sectors dropped by a lot. It seems the financials and materials sectors are most impacted by the stock market drop.

[T Bhat]

The cause for the sudden sell-off is not fully clear. The double dip doesnt seem to be an issue as both the railroad traffic and employment numbers are looking good. It may be the European debt that is causing this.

[roy]

Dell, HPQ and the banking stocks are looking interesting.

[gopalbhat]

I have been trading the following 4 growth stocks and I bought some. DECK, AAPL, GOOG, ISRG

[T Bhat]

Looks like the market rebounded a bit. Can't predict the bottom for these things

[gopalbhat]

Warren Buffet is genius and it goes without saying. Is Buy and hold a good strategy for people like us. The last decade was lost decade with prices going up to only come down.You loose $20/- as trade, but you still make money if you buy in low tide and sell in high tide. Like for instance, I yesterday felt a high tide and sold few that I bought in Aug 9 and hoping to catch them next time after season's earnings or during unemployment numbers.

Appreciate your inputs and value your opinions

[T Bhat]

Buffett doesnt follow buy and hold. It is a myth that he does. In his partnership days when his assets were lower, he moved out of higher priced (compared to value) assets to lower priced assets.

Berkshire is in a different ball game though. If you look at Coke, it has already paid back his purchase price multiple times over through dividends. Also, he expects to get his entire purchase price in terms of dividends in the next five-eight years every year. As a holding company, he gets taxed at a low rate for the dividend income. It is all gravy to hold on to a franchise like Coke with large capital gains and dividend gains.