--- title: Warren Buffett's 'Be Greedy' Advice Came With a Catch in 2008 description: "Warren Buffett's advice to be greedy when others are fearful can pay off over the long term —\_even if it came just before 2009 market lows." authors: - name: Marc Guberti url: https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/ bio: Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations. at_money_since: 2024 articles: 476 covers: - Investing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2026-11-14T16:15:24.000Z' section: Investing word_count: 589 canonical: https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit - Day 2](https://img.money.com/2026/11/Explainer-Warren-Buffett-Says-To.jpg) Warren Buffett has regularly told investors to be greedy when others are fearful, and his success as an investor illustrates just how useful this advice can be. But when he reiterated the advice in a 2008 article for *The New York Times*, investors who took his advice still had to endure several months of falling stock prices. Here’s what Buffett’s iconic saying means, and what new and experienced investors can take away from the former Berkshire Hathaway CEO’s strategy. ## Where the quote comes from Buffett wrote in his 1986 Berkshire Hathaway letter to shareholders, “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” The saying has become more popular over time, thanks in part to Buffett reiterating the strategy in his 2008 op-ed for *The New York* Times titled “Buy American. I Am.” The article was published as investors ensured a losing year due to the Great Recession. The saying serves as a reminder for investors to maintain conviction even if stock prices are trending downward. Corrections and crashes are natural parts of buying and holding assets, but their recoveries reward patient investors. ## What Buffett’s saying doesn’t mean Although the quote captures a contrarian mindset, it doesn’t mean that investors should go all-in on a single stock or make risky bets, such as speculative options trading. This Buffett insight simply means to avoid panicking and emotional investing when you see others doing so. Investing based on panic can lead to poor decisions such as selling at the bottom and missing out on recoveries. Buffett has sold shares of various companies due to changing fundamentals, but he avoids doing so just because a stock’s value is suddenly under pressure. The S&P 500 peaked in October 2007 before the Great Recession, then fell by almost 60% to its March 2009 low. It took almost six years for the S&P 500 to regain its prior high in March 2013. Buffett’s op-ed came out during the worst parts of the Great Recession, and the damage wasn’t done quite yet. However, the March 2009 low presented a good buying opportunity for long-term investors — and shows that Buffett’s advice made sense even if investors had to watch their portfolios fall for several more months. People who maintained long-term conviction for the S&P 500 and U.S. companies held their positions, bought the dips and were greatly rewarded. ## What to do when the stock market drops When markets are falling, it’s best to avoid checking your portfolio constantly and to ignore the short-term noise. Instead, it often makes sense to stick to your plan and keep investing in stocks with solid fundamentals based on your risk tolerance. While rebalancing regularly is important, investors should avoid moving in and out of positions due to panic. You can keep rebalancing goals in mind as you grow your portfolio with future contributions. ## Stay focused on long-term investing goals It’s common for people to exit or trim their positions during market corrections. However, this is the time to remind yourself of long-term goals. Any money you put into stocks that you do not need for the next five-plus years can ideally weather corrections and other drops. However, if you need money soon, now may be a good time to build your cash buffer instead of your portfolio. Contributing to your 401(k) is still important, but if your market-related anxiety is due to a small cash position, it may be best to build a deeper emergency savings account without selling assets. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stocks", "item": "https://money.com/stocks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Warren Buffett's 'Be Greedy' Advice Came With a Catch in 2008" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/", "name": "Warren Buffett's 'Be Greedy' Advice Came With a Catch in 2008", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-11-14T16:15:24.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Warren Buffett's 'Be Greedy' Advice Came With a Catch in 2008", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/11/Explainer-Warren-Buffett-Says-To.jpg", "width": 1024, "height": 683, "caption": "Explainer-Warren-Buffett-Says-To" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marc Guberti", "url": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/#author", "description": "Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2026-11-14T16:15:24.000Z", "description": "Warren Buffett's advice to be greedy when others are fearful can pay off over the long term — even if it came just before 2009 market lows.", "abstract": "Warren Buffett's advice to be greedy when others are fearful can pay off over the long term — even if it came just before 2009 market lows.", "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-be-greedy-advice-2008/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "wordCount": 589, "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Investment", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Stock", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock" ] } ] } ] } ```