Jeff Saut: "Wait For The Fat Pitch"

I have found Jeff Saut at Raymond James to be a very useful read over the years, and I have profited from his advice. This weeks column is worth a read.

Warren Buffett has often quoted legendary baseball player Ted Williams, who stated, “Waiting for the right pitch is the most important thing for a batter.” Of course, Mr. Buffett modifies Williams’ quote for the investing world by noting, “There are no called strikes so you can watch stocks come by and wait and wait until the right pitch and no one is going to call a strike (on you).” Buffett goes on to say, “Wait for the fat pitch and then swing for the fences!” And last week the Oracle of Omaha “swung,” as the 77-year old investor disclosed that he has become the largest shareholder of Kraft (KFT/$31.33), as well as offering to take $800 billion of municipal bonds off of the books of troubled insurers. While these moves are anything but altruistic, we do find it interesting that after years of lamenting there was a lack of attractive investment opportunities, Mr. B has suddenly sprung into action.

We can do worse than follow Mr. Buffett's lead. (Barry Ritholtz might disagree.) We can also do worse than follow Mr. Saut's advice.