CHESSNOID

Just because you have more money doesn’t mean you are always right.  Take the case of these big hitters.  They all have written books on how they made their fortune or their story of success is so great many of us know it from what is reported on TV.  Something you haven’t heard is how much they have lost. Yahoo AP:

Topping that list is Buffett, who has seen the value of equity in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, fall by about $13.6 billion, or 22 percent, so far this year, to leave his holdings valued at $48.1 billion. Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison has seen his equity stake fall by $6.2 billion, or about 24 percent, to $20.1 billion, according to the research that ran from the start of the year through the close of trading Oct. 29.

Rounding out the top five in that study were Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, whose company equity fell by $5.1 billion to $9.4 billion; Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, whose equity fell by $3.6 billion to $5.7 billion; and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch, with a $4 billion contraction to $3 billion.

News Corp. and Microsoft declined comment, while representatives from Berkshire Hathaway, Oracle and Amazon.com didn’t respond to requests for comment.

There is a reason why they are for the fraud bailout and it is in their best interest. I am sure losing 10 billion dollars here or there won’t hurt their lifestyle, but in today’s market where cash is king, the lack of cash will affect how their companies are run.

Even these more active investors who have been known to be money making machines have been hurt beyond what we could imagine:

Earlier this year, billionaire Kerkorian’s investment firm Tracinda Corp. paid about $1 billion, at an average share price of near $7.10, for about 141 million shares in Ford Motor Corp. That represented a 6.49 percent stake in Ford.

Those shares have tumbled as the automaker’s financial condition weakened considerably amid slumping sales and tighter credit conditions. That drove Tracinda to disclose twice in recent weeks that it was selling some of its Ford stock — one batch of 7.3 million shares sold at an average price of $2.43 each, and the other for 26.4 million shares at an average sale price of $2.01 each. That means for about a quarter of his total Ford holdings, he got $71 million.

Tracinda spokeswoman Winnie Lerner declined to comment.

Activist investor Icahn faces an equally ugly situation with his investment in Yahoo Inc. earlier this year, when he bought about 69 million shares for a nearly 5 percent ownership stake. As of June 30, those shares were valued at about $20.60 each, according to a regulatory filing.

Over the summer, he fought hard to get Yahoo’s board to agree to a takeover by Microsoft Corp., a deal that never went through. As a concession, Icahn got a seat on the Yahoo board for himself and two allies.

But his Yahoo holdings are off sharply, with the company’s shares trading around $13 each. That means he’s down more than $500 million since late June. Icahn didn’t respond to a request for comment.

As Tuck’s Hansen notes, the current market conditions are serving up a reality check — not just for individual investors but for the biggest names around.

I definitely value the importance of dollar cost averaging method. In this market where you could see the recession from a mile away last year, it is best to stay on the sidelines until the fundamentals change and the technical numbers turn flat. Right now they are both trending down. A new president elected come Tuesday may yield a short term bear market rally but it will not change the problems. Neither Obama or McCain have solutions yet beyond the “lower taxes and create jobs” rhetoric.

The bottom of the housing market and stock market is impossible to call but it is surely not to happen in the next 6-9 months. As more bailouts occur, the longer it will take for our economy to recover. Just say no to FRAUD bailouts.