Buffett: Yesterday’s “One-Two Punch” To Stocks & Oil Was Wild – But “October 1987” Was Way Worse

For millions of Americans, especially those on the cusp of retirement, this selloff has been a nightmare, but for humble Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, it is undoubtedly a dream come true. After a few years of relative inactivity on the deals front, with Buffett claiming he prefers to buy stocks (especially stocks that he had previously shunned like Apple) because whole companies are “too expensive,” Berkshire has accumulated a massive $100 million+ cash pile,

Everyone who has seen “Too Big Too Fail” knows that the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman scooped up some of the best deals of his lifetime during the financial crisis, when he invested in Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other firms. His state-backed market intervention helping to stabilize the market.

But is Buffett planning to take advantage of these ‘clearance sale’ prices this time around? Many still advocate the trusted practice of BTFD, as Buffett has in the very recent past. Others believe stocks are still ‘too expensive’.

One recent SEC filing showed that Buffett bought the dip in Delta Air Lines, while the stock was down more than 30%. We suspect this won’t be the only Berkshire ‘panic’ purchase.

And in an interview with Yahoo Finance published on Wednesday, Buffett said that while this selloff was unique in that it delivered a “one-two punch” to equities and the oil market.

“If you stick around long enough, you’ll see everything in markets,” Buffett said. “And it may have taken me to 89 years of age to throw this one into the experience, but the markets, if you have to be open second by second, they react to news in a big time way.”

However, while this selloff required investors to be watching “second by second” and was undoubtedly a wild ride, “it wasn’t October 1987 – but it was an imitation anyway.” He said later that it also wasn’t as bad as the financial crisis.

“At the close of business on Monday Oct. 19, most of the specialist firms….were broke…it was really close. And of course the financial panic, you had 35 million people who on Sept. 1 weren’t worried at all about their money market accounts…but by Sept. 16 everyone was worried.”

“People looked at money market accounts as the same thing as cash…I was at a birthday party and that’s all they talked about.”

That’s right, kids. You think this is a panic? Let me tell you – this is nothing! Back in my day, traders knew what a real ‘bank run’ looked like.

So buy the dip, you idiots, what are you waiting for? “‘Robinhood is down?’ – what the hell does that mean”?

Watch the interview below: