By Shawn Tully
Publication Date: 2026-04-26 11:00:00
In the December 2001 issue of Assetswrote Warren Buffett a seminal seven-page article Introduced a crucial market metric that became known as the “Buffett Indicator.”
The great man adapted the play from a speech he gave privately to an audience consisting mostly of top CEOs at the annual Allen & Co. party in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July. It was the legendary Assets Author Carol Loomis, who convinced her longtime friend and interviewee Buffett to adapt and expand on his comments for the article.
The concepts that Buffett presented a quarter of a century ago are timeless and particularly relevant today because the measure that he then described as indicating danger looks even more threatening today.
Buffett was writing at a time when the dot-com bubble was collapsing. In the article, he explained why the decline was inevitable and will likely continue for a long time. His thesis: In the long run, the total value of US stocks cannot exceed the growth of…
