UBS economist says don't overreact, market resilient

I’m reluctant to overreact to some shorter-term weakness, no matter how real it is, because the market has proven to be unbelievably resilient. If you would have been acting that way for the last two years, you would have gotten killed by this market.

~Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. market strategist, UBS in New York, "Strategists Sticking With 17% S&P 500 Rally by Year-End on Rising Profits", Bloomberg.com, August 5, 2011

Ken Fisher on "bounce back" investing

One of the points is that the stocks that have been getting hammered the most are actually the same categories that were doing well as the market was going up, which is really normal for a correction. They are the ones the most economically sensitive and therefore I think the bounce back where you want to focus now is on the things that are economically sensitive including energy and materials and industrials and consumer discretionary as you have shown on your chart earlier as to the areas that have done best in the expansion. I think those areas bounce back, because as we move from a period in a normal expansion of below average growth back to more normal growth, those stocks will get more bounce back and more empathy behind them, if you will.

~Ken Fisher, CEO, Fisher Investments, CNBC, June 22, 2011

Warren Buffett on the reported death of Osama bin Laden

Well, it's always been a mistake to bet against America, since 1776.  And, you know, we take our body blows from time to time, but this country always comes through.  And when we get united, get out of the way.  It--and we are--at moments like this you particularly see that.  And of course, after 9/11 we saw it.  But I've always had enormous faith in this country to do anything, whether it's in economics or whether it's in liberating people or whatever it may be.  And this is just one more dramatic illustration of when the United States sets out to do something, it gets it done.

~ Warren Buffett, chairman, Berkshire Hathaway, CNBC's Squawk Box, May 2, 2011

Bill Miller sees room to grow for stock prices and earnings

The market's up about 90% or more from the bottom, but earnings are up about 90% from the bottom. So, we're really looking at a market where forward twelve earnings multiples are not much higher than they were at the bottom. The difference of course is that the market as a percent of GDP is a lot higher than it was then, so the slack is not what it was. But you still have great values in this overall market.

You're going to see margin headwinds and that kind of thing and also just consumption, because of oil prices, will be a bit of a drag. But at the end of the day, you're looking at companies with great free cash flow yields and rising dividends and low P/E ratios and I think the overall earnings growth is not going to be what we've seen but you'll see earnings growth over the next few years be at least equal to nominal GDP, maybe a little bit higher.

~Bill Miller, chairman and CIO, Legg Mason Capital Management, CNBC's Squawk Box, April 6, 2011

Warren Buffett says America's best days lie ahead

Throughout my lifetime, politicians and pundits have constantly moaned about terrifying problems facing America. Yet our citizens now live an astonishing six times better than when I was born. The prophets of doom have overlooked the all-important factor that is certain: Human potential is far from exhausted, and the American system for unleashing that potential – a system that has worked wonders for over two centuries despite frequent interruptions for recessions and even a Civil War – remains alive and effective.

We are not natively smarter than we were when our country was founded nor do we work harder. But look around you and see a world beyond the dreams of any colonial citizen. Now, as in 1776, 1861, 1932 and 1941, America’s best days lie ahead.

~Warren Buffett, chairman, Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter to the Shareholders, 2010

Warren Buffett shares a confused interpretation of America, past and present

We had four million people here in 1790. We’re not more intelligent than people in China, which then had 290 million people, or Europe, which had 50 million. We didn’t work harder, we didn’t have a better climate, and we didn’t have better resources. But we definitely had a system that unleashes potential. This system works. Since then, we’ve been through at least 15 recessions, a civil war, a Great Depression. … All of these things happen. But this country has optimized human potential, and it’s not over yet. It’s like what’s written on the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren: If you seek his monument, look around you.

~Warren Buffett, investor, as quoted in the New York Times' DealBook, January 5th, 2011

BlackRock's Bob Doll says confidence begets confidence and the only way is up in 2011

We've been through a period of very low confidence: consumer confidence, CEO confidence. And there's nothing like a slightly better economy, a slightly better stock market to argue that confidence will beget more confidence. CEOs are never more confident than when their stock price is going up.

They will be more willing to do some positive things with the $2 trillion-plus in excess cash sitting on their balance sheets: raise their dividend; buy back their stock; engage in M&A; re-invest in their business; hire a worker or two; or maybe put up a new plant. I think that's what's in front of us.

~Bob Doll, chief equity strategist, BlackRock, "Experts agree: Get over your fear and get back into stocks", USA Today, December 17th, 2010

Brent Wilsey on buying the dip in the face of bad news

I'm seeing good news from the CEOs, I'm hearing good news on trucking, from trains and so forth, all this good news. I guess every once in awhile I'm glad this happens. We get the bad news and the fears of the double-dip. Well, that's kind of good for me because it gives me a chance to step in and buy more. Every time these dips come along, I've got more money coming in, I buy more time. It's a great time to buy and that's what it should be used for, buying on the dips like we have.

~Brent Wilsey, president, Wilsey Asset Management, CNBC Street Signs, August 8th, 2010

Jim Grant on the economic recovery

To the shock and consternation of not a few of our readers, this publication has been pushing the line that prosperity is just around the corner...

We built our case for a growth spurt in hiring and GDP on the long-established tendency for strong recoveries to issue from deep recessions and weak recoveries to follow mild ones. In this country, the business-cycle record of the postwar era, and, indeed, of the past 100 years, seems to admit no exception to this rule (if rule it be). No matter what the nature of the economy, no matter how big or intrusive the government, no matter the level of real interest rates prevailing at cyclical low ebb or how high the top marginal tax rate, a steep decline in business activity has presaged a sharp rebound, while a shallow decline has foretold weakness.

~ Jim Grant, "The case of the reluctant recovery," Grant's Interest Rate Observer, December 11, 2009