It seems I either read (past tense) or heard Warren Buffett say something to that effect with regard to investing: buy what you know.
That's why my first "individual," retail investment I made was in Burlington Northern railroad back in about 1984. I forget the exact date. I held it and accumulated shares in BNI all those years, until Warren Buffett bought it. Buy and hold is not the best strategy, "they" say, and I "left a lot of money on the table" (a cliche I detest but cliches serve their purpose now and then) over the years, not trading in and out of BNI. But I am not an agile trader, and I prefer to sleep comfortably at night knowing I owned shares in a pretty good company. But that's all over: Mr Buffett bought BNI and I had to move on.
I came to the Bakken a bit late, but not overly late, and I certainly don't have any regrets. But it has been very enjoyable following Mr Buffett's advice these past couple of years. Of course, I might not be writing this if the price of oil wasn't on an upswing, but that's another story for another day, as they say (another cliche).
It's been enjoyable following Mr Buffett's advice because I have learned a lot from investing by posting this blog. That was not the original intent; the original intent was simply educational. I ran across a lot of blogs suggesting the Bakken was a lot of hype when it was first being reported in the middle of the past decade. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but the only way I could find out was to track it a bit more closely.
I could have done it on a word document / spreadsheet for my personal use, but I quickly learned that HTML was a much better way to go. Blogs can be restricted to authors only, or designated readers, but I thought "why not open it up for anyone?" That was the right call. I am impressed with the number of folks that have sent in comments, all of which (with one or two exceptions) I have posted.
Had I not done it this way, I would have missed some opportunities in the Bakken. The biggest opportunity I most likely would have missed would have been the pipelines. Three jump out immediately: Enbridge, ONEOK, and Kinder Morgan.
I know nothing about Kinder Morgan but I see it mentioned on CNBC quite often, and have considered buying some shares. I bought shares in Enbridge early on and continue to accumulate. I don't know if I "know" the company as well as I should (Mr Buffett's advice) but I certainly drove past Enbridge industrial locations often enough to feel comfortable with the company. The one I never would have known about had it not been for the blog is ONEOK. This company has announced several big investments to be made in the Bakken over the next couple of years. I don't own any shares in ONEOK yet, but it certainly appears to be one of those companies that might be of interest to those who "know" the Bakken.
Anyway, I am rambling; some time to fill while waiting for my next class to start. When I get a chance, I might put some links to the above.
I enjoy your ramblings. In fact I have an 'if only story' story about Berkshire Hathaway. I was first introduced to stock market investing in the early 1970's. I was told that IBM was the most expensive stock at that time. Wrong, I found a little known company (Berkshire Hathaway) named after the biggest failure a man named Warren Buffet invested in. It was priced at a whopping $400 per share. I believe the stock is around $125,000 per share now, do the math. Hindsight being 20/20 that is how you get rich in the stock market.
ReplyDeleteA conservative in the land of liberals
Portland oregon
Thank you for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteWith investing, what I learned most was that it kept me interested in all aspects of what is going on in the world. The "money" aspect of it has (almost) become secondary.
My hunch is that dedicated investors probably know more current events than almost anyone else and can hold their own among any group.
I am always impressed with CEOs who come on CNBC and can talk about almost any subject, not necessarily their own company.
Berkshire Hathaway is another one I missed (too young in the 70's to invest -- maybe not too young, but no cash) but after all these years, it's funny how things work out -- I got a few shares with the BNI - BRKB exchange. I never thought I would hold shares in that company.
Bruce, it's your Blog, ramble as much as it pleases you...I enjoy the Rambles and greatly appreciate the effort you put into milliondollarway and keeping up abreast of all things Bakken.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments. I have some thoughts for later tonight once I get caught up on all the news today; I've been gone all day, just now getting caught up.
ReplyDeleteBut again, thank you for your support.