market folly

Activist investor Carl Icahn recently appeared at The New York Times Dealbook Conference.  Andrew Ross Sorkin interviewed him and talked about markets and activist investing.

"The real money I've made over the years is holding companies for 7, 8, or 9 years.  You gotta buy them when nobody wants them, that's the real secret.  It sounds very simple, but it's very hard to do."

On the Fed, he said he agrees with Stanley Druckenmiller and we could be walking into a minefield there.

Icahn also talked about how 'easy money' is affecting companies.  They're buying back tons of stock, inflating their earnings and not in any way showing you the real earnings.  He also noted that certain less attractive companies have been getting access to cheaper capital.

We've highlighted some of Icahn's recent portfolio activity here.

Embedded below is the video of Carl Icahn's Dealbook conference interview:



For more from this conference, be sure to also check out Stan Druckenmiller's interview at the Dealbook conference.