whitman - like 74

Whitman says "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's even better than the '70s. Certain common stocks are being given away. It is absolutely a time to plunge in. We are also looking for companies that have long-term very promising businesses selling at a huge discount and that are going to increase net assets on a more than double-digit basis over the next five years. This is a very rare opportunity."

on September 18th, 2008
Marty Whitman, the octogenarian dean of deep-value investing, sees great bargains to be snapped up from the current stock market meltdown. "It's a great time," enthused the 83-year-old founder of New York-based Third Avenue Management LLC before speaking yesterday at a conference organized by AIC Ltd.

"We can't try to pick the bottom, but it seems to me that there are great values out there now, just like in 1974," the firm's co-chief investment officer said in an interview.