None of this means, however, that a business or stock is an intelligent purchase simply because it is unpopular; a contrarian approach is just as foolish as a follow-the-crowd strategy. What's required is thinking rather than polling. Unfortunately, Bertrand Russell's observation about life in general applies with unusual force in the financial world: "Most men would rather die than think. Many do."

Americans are in a cycle of fear which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, and that leads to more fear. We'll break out of it. It takes time.

In fact, in my adult lifetime, I don't think I've ever seen people as fearful economically as they are right now.

Our stay-put behavior reflects our view that the stock market serves as a relocation center at which money is moved from the active to the patient.

The greater the potential for reward in the value portfolio, the less risk there is.

[The U.S. Treasury] can borrow basically unlimited amounts. They can stay there for years and years. These assets will be worth more money over time. So when Merrill Lynch sells a bunch of mortgage-related assets at 22 cents on the dollar like they did a month or so ago, the buyer goes - is going to make money, and he's going to make a lot more money if it happens to be an institution like the U.S. government which has very, very cheap borrowing costs.

If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don't care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster.