“Everybody Else Is Doing It”

On my way to work yesterday, I heard on the radio that Warren Buffett sent a memo to staff at Berkshire Hathaway in wake of recent HP scandal and option back-dating at companies like Apple. What interested me most was that Buffett told his colleagues that the five most dangerous words in business are

“Everybody else is doing it”

If it’s illegal, the fact that everybody else is doing it won’t make it legal.

The same is true for investing. If everybody else is investing in it, don’t jump on the bandwagon.