Can Barack Call The Bottom Better Than Buffett?

On October 16, 2008 Warren Buffett published an article in the NY Times titled "Buy American, I Am." Although he was not the brains behind the title, the op-ed was his own creation and it generated a lot of buzz at the time. The S&P closed that day at 946.43, after the S&P had already rallied over 12% from the lows seen on 10/10/2008. Buffett would be the first to tell you he was not trying to call a bottom, and he didn't - the S&P hit 666.79 on March 6th, down almost 30% since the article was published which made many question the Oracle's original call to buy quality stocks.

On the morning of March 3, 2008, President Barack Obama decided to make a rare presidential comment on the stock market saying that buying stocks "is a potentially good deal" for long term investors. If you had bought the S&P at the close on March 3rd, you would be up over 10% as of Friday's close.

For now the Barack Bottom remains in place, hopefully it will work out better than the Buffett Bottom. Below is a chart comparing the first 13 days after each made their statements.