Warren Buffett has a long track record of taking advantage of once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunities. He has frequently been a buyer of stocks when other investors are selling. This has allowed him to purchase high-quality businesses when they are trading at discounted prices.
By following his strategy, I could generate relatively high returns in the long run. With investor fears still high after the stock market crash, now could be the right time to build a portfolio of stocks while they trade at attractive prices.
Rare buying opportunities
Warren Buffett’s investing career may have spanned many decades, but he has had relatively few opportunities to buy stocks at extremely cheap prices. That situation usually only occurs when investor sentiment is exceptionally weak, which often coincides with periods of economic uncertainty.
Since those instances are relatively few and far between, investors are unlikely to have a plethora of chances to buy a range of high-quality companies at low prices during their lifetimes. Therefore, it is important to use them to our advantage when they occur. Doing so may enable us to obtain a market-beating return in the long run that makes a positive impact on our financial situations.
Warren Buffett’s long-term focus
Of course, Warren Buffett does not expect to make short-term gains when buying any stock. History shows that it can take many months, or even years, for the stock market to recover from its declines. For example, the most recent global recession (excluding this year) occurred during the global financial crisis. While stock indexes such as the FTSE 100 declined by over 50%, they recovered in the following years to trade at new record highs.
With the stock market having always recovered from its lows, buying during a period of economic weakness has been a sound plan for those investors with long time horizons. As the economic outlook improves, the financial performances of companies does likewise. This encourages investors to take more risks, which supports the recovery and subsequent bull market.
Today’s buying opportunities
The recent stock market crash could mean there are buying opportunities for investors who wish to follow a strategy similar to that used by Warren Buffett. Risks such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and political uncertainty in North America and Europe mean that investor sentiment towards a wide range of sectors is weak. This could mean there are a number of high-quality companies trading at low prices that offer long-term growth potential.
Of course, diversifying across sectors and geographies is important in an uncertain economic period. This reduces overall risks, and could improve your long-term return prospects as a result of having exposure to a wider range of growth opportunities. The end result could be a growing portfolio that benefits from having taken advantage of low prices during a weak period for the stock market.
