The death of "buy and hold"?

I want to mention an idea from Charles Ellis because it bears repeating. A lot of people are talking today about the death of the buy and hold approach or the death of modern portfolio theory. Either one used at the expense of all other thought processes was most likely never a good idea, and it certainly did not help you in 2008. But, you could also argue that nothing besides a very successful, and lucky, case of market timing would have helped you in 2008. There were incredible and extreme moves, both to the upside and the downside, depending on the asset class in question. Going forward, it is easy to think that everything will be different. But, before buying and selling stocks to fullfill a new mandate or strategy and pounce on a variety of what you think are new, quality ideas, remember these two points. Any time you buy or sell a stock, 50% of the time you are buying or selling from one of the 50 largest institutional money managers. Any time you buy or sell a stock, 75% of the time you are buying or selling from one of the 100 largest institutional money managers. These huge entities with all of their resources and analysts are reading, able, and willing to do the exact opposite of what you're doing. Is what you're doing still as smart as you thought it was?