You  may have heard a radio spot or saw an ad on FaceBook saying that investors can retire rich on one stock. One stock! Some investors, they say, turned $16,000 into $2 Million!

Wow! I never thought of that! What a novel idea, except…its a load of crap!

The promoter of this idea further supports his case by claiming that Warren Buffet, the chief cook and bottle washer of Berkshire Hathaway, THE Oracle of Omaha, says you should break the golden rule of investing because the golden rule is apparently crap. Another load of crap!

This is simply the most hideous form of financial pornography.

Advertising gone wild!

And the ads never get around to mentioning what the golden rule is, so grab a seat and I will tell you what it is: diversification.

These investing pornographers are hard-selling the illusion that a McMansion on Easy Street can be yours with just one stock! Its a load of…well, you get the point.

Not only is their ridiculous pitch dangerous, they are taking Warren Buffet w-a-a-a-a-a-y out of context. Again, they don’t support their alluring claim in the ad, other than to say this strategy has made a plumber, or a teacher, or some mandolin maker filthy rich. Right. 

Here is the single Warren Buffet quote to which they are non-contextually referring: “…diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you know what you are doing.”

Let’s get serious. The specious claims about this get-it-while-it’s-hot strategy that may have worked for the mandolin maker, is nothing more than a come on to elevate investors expectations way beyond where they should ever go. One stock. C’mon, get real! This is a shameful way to entice desperate people to spend money on some catch up plan that doesn’t have a chance in hell. This is exactly the opposite of the right way to invest your money.

On the other hand, can this approach really work? Sure it can. What’s that old saw about even a stopped clock being right twice a day?  Here are a few facts to consider in case you are considering plunging into your golden years with one stock in your pocket.

Warren Buffet runs one of the most diversified companies on the planet, Berkshire Hathaway. It’s the fifth largest company on the S&P 500 by market capitalization.

As of Berkshire’s most recent 13-F SEC filing (August 2019), here is a list of it’s top ten holdings:

Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Coca-Cola (KO), Kraft Heinz (KHC), Apple (AAPL), American Express (AXP), Sirius XM (SIRI), U.S. Bancorp (USB), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), General Motors (GM).

Let’s see…Five diversified financials, GM cars and trucks equipped with Sirius XM satellite radio, an iPhone next to you on your front seat, and a Coke to wash down your box of Mac and Cheese. Diversified enough for you? And that’s just the top 10.

Berkshire’s holdings top $120 Billion. Dig a little bit deeper into their portfolio and you will find insurance, paint, bricks, jewelry, media, apparel, home building, underwear, food and beverage, and to drop just a few names, Pampered Chef, the GEICO Gekko, Garanimals and Dairy Queen. 

Here is another Buffett quote you didn’t hear in the ad: “We usually have fairly large portions (5% to 10% of our total assets) in each of five or six generals, with smaller positions in another ten or fifteen.”

So do you really think Billionaire Buffet thinks diversification is only for the ignorant?

So did Billionaire Buffet give the promoter approval to use his name and out-of-context quote? Don’t know, I’d have to think about that. Thought about it. No.

So did Billionaire Buffet get rich on one stock? If you replied “yes,” I feel bad for you.

The Berkshire Hathaway A-share (BRK.A) is selling at $311,573 a share at the moment of this posting. Yes, you read that right. But if you were to buy a single B-share of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) for about $207, you would be a fractional owner of about 120 companies.

That’s called diversification.

Don’t fall prey to the one stock crap or crooked promoters misquoting investment icons like Warren Buffet.

Tune out the porno, and get help visualizing a better plan and a better future


Never. Lose. Money.