“I Have Never Seen Any Evidence That the Mistake Made By the Buy-and-Holders Was Purposeful.”

Set forth below is the text of a comment that I recently posted to the discussion thread for another blog entry at this site:

It couldn’t be ignorance based on your description above as it would have to have been purposeful.

I have never seen any evidence that the mistake made by the Buy-and-Holders was purposeful. The idea that it is not necessary to exercise price discipline when buying stocks is rooted in the peer-reviewed research showing that short-term timing doesn’t work. At the time that research was published, index funds did not exist. So there was no way to check whether long-term timing is required or not. Index funds came into existence in the 1970s and then Shiller showed that long-term timing is required in 1981.

The death threats were purposeful. The demands for unjustified board bannings were purposeful. The tens of thousands of acts of defamation were purposeful. The threats to get academic researchers fired from their jobs were purposeful.

You Goons will be going to prison, some of you for a very long time.

The good people who innocently continue to believe in Buy-and-Hold today will of course be working with all the rest of us to make the world a better place for all.

We will naturally be sending out best wishes in your direction wherever you end up, my old friend.

Rob