when markets were  flying  and he had  35+bln of cash on his  boooks did anyone wonder why he wasnt  buying?? hello!! did he say markets were overly optimistic  during the dot  com boom?? of course  he  did . and that was with plenty of  skin in the game.

When Buffett was hoarding cash and saying that the market was too expensive, many of these same blogs and commentators were criticizing him for doing that, and laughing as he missed out on gains.

He made it quite clear in his op-ed that the market may very well be down further even a year from now, and that his advice to buy was for the long term.

The best thing for the average investor would be if 99% of these investing blogs disappeared off the face of the earth. Minyanville, Seeking Alpha, Hulbert, Cramer, etc. are not providing any real value to anybody.

Quite odd that the world´s most successful investor is now being criticized.  Its lonely at the top.  Buffett succeeds because he is a contrarian.  When the average Joe and Jane are selling, he is buying.  When the average Joe and Jane is buying, he is selling.  He is selectively buying value stocks right now.  Any company that is currently trading far below its liquidation value is a great candidate for an investment.  These value stocks are rare, but they are out there.  Smart investors like Buffett are slowly accumulating these future winners.  More info on value stocks at http://www.ValueStockTips.com

How can anyone say Buffet's timing is off?

He was very clear in that article that he could not predict near term market movement. He is looking 5, 10 and 20 years down the road.

Based on his past success, it would idiotic to criticize his timing until, at least, five years have passed.

Anyone who say's buffet is wrong is a moron and should be fired.  He doesn't care if he picks the exact bottom.  All he cares about is doing what made him rich in the first place... buying great businesses at great prices.  There's a reason why people like buffet get richer and people like these authors don't.  www.generationyinvestor.com

Mr Buffet and Bill Gates plus a few others could help rebuild the American Auto Industry and the American Economy by offering financial help to Chrystler,Ford and GM.They would also be setting a good example and make their mark in the United States of America that would go down in history as Rich Americans That Done What Was Needed To Help The American Workers And The American Economy.H.Pierce of Kingman,AZ.

Years ago, my father-- a top executive for the worlds largest company- (no, not IBM), would watch the market fluctuations and comment-- "the little guy should leave only his shadow exiting the stock market"  He felt it much too risky for any  but the large institutions to play with.... and Buffet is as large as they get!  Shame on him for goading, advising and losing the shirt, shoes and shadow of countless little guys with his gambling remarks!  Let the little guy venture peeks, but keep the play to the giants!  When dad retired from Union Carbide in 1975-- it was with the nest egg of a venerable blue chip stock--- thank goodness he cashed out shortly thereafter--  because Bhopal was just around the corner...

Jack Kepner, San Francisco, CA.

There is a fine line between speculating and understanding. What scares people the most is what they don't know. We as human beings can only make judgments based on facts that we have at hand which could then be furthered into a theory as to reflect our actions based on our understanding of the facts. If I had somebody one day come up to me in panic and offer to sell me $1 for .50cents and I knew that dollar would be worth $2 a year from know I would look at the time and say "Its never to early for for a 300% return". Now if another somebody came  a week later and said sir "I have a dollar selling for $1.50". I would look a the time and say "sir you are a week late on your quote come back when the time and "PRICE" is right." Where these critics are confused is that time means nothing unless the price is right. So when we speak of optimism and pessimism make sure you understand when the time and "PRICE'' is right. Then and only then will you understand when to be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.    

You guys give this guy too much credit.  He is so filthy rich he is just playing with all of our money.  Do you really think losing a couple of billion concerns him.  He would love for the stocks everywhere to collapse.  It just makes it so he can buy more and then market his magnificent prowess on everybody he just took money from.

It's like sitting at a black jack table and watching one person with a stack of  coins just keep winning and the rest of the people slowly lose their's.  Is that swanky looking, cigar smoking, wannabe aristocrat that much smarter than the others or does he just have enough money to make it look so!!!!!

Probably the dumbest article I have ever come across.  Pretty sure his track record speaks for himself.  They are all sheep, following the heard. Oh and Harvey Pierce your point would work well if you lived in....a communist country. Why should the smart, motivated men pay for the mistakes of the idiots pumping out gas guzzling vehicles nobody needs.  Grow up people and take care of yourself.