Amazon.com
Buffett, the Bard of Omaha, is a genuine American folk hero, if folk heroes are allowed to build fortunes worth upward of $15 billion. He's great at homespun metaphor, but behind those catchy phrases is a reservoir of financial acumen that's generally considered the best of his generation. For example, in an essay on CEO stock options, he writes, "Negotiating with one's self seldom produces a barroom brawl." This is his way of saying that an executive who can give himself compensation totally disproportionate to his performance surely will. There are uncountable gems of financial wisdom to be harvested from these essays, taken from the annual reports he writes for Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company. Just to pick one more, here's a now-famous line about those he competes with when making stock-market investments: "What could be more advantageous in an intellectual contest--whether it be chess, bridge, or stock selection--than to have opponents who have been taught that thinking is a waste of energy?"
While Buffett has a policy of seldom commenting on stocks he owns--he feels public pronouncements will only lead to the public's expectation of more public pronouncements, and he likes to keep his cards close to his vest--he loves to discuss the principles behind his investments. These come primarily from Ben Graham, under whom Buffett studied at Columbia University and for whom he worked in the 1950s. First among them is the idea that price is what you pay and value is what you get--and if you're a smart investor, the first will always be less than the second. In that sense, the value of the lessons learned from Buffett's Essays could be far greater than the book's price. --Lou Schuler
Book Description
The definitive work concerning Warren Buffett and intelligent investment philosophy, this is a collection of Buffett's letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway written over the past few decades that together furnish an enormously valuable informal education. The letters distill in plain words all the basic principles of sound business practices. They are arranged and introduced by a leading apostle of the "value" school and noted author, Lawrence Cunningham. Here in one place are the priceless pearls of business and investment wisdom, woven into a delightful narrative on the major topics concerning both managers and investors. These timeless lessons are ever-more important in the current environment.
Customer Reviews:
A brilliant book for the beginng investor or corporate executive.......2007-10-23
Mr. Buffet does a remarkable job of simplifying the complexities of investing. His homespun stories and self-deprecating humor make the subject matter entertaining, easy to understand and very useful.
It is remarkable for a man of his stature in the investment world to openly discuss his many mistakes and bad investment decisions and yet, we should all be so lucky as to have the fortitude and the wisdom to invest with the same degree of success that he has experienced - even with much smaller sums of money.
I highly recommend this book to everyone that owns common stock.
An MBA by reading one book.......2007-10-17
Want the equivalent of an MBA - read this book! Skip the first 26 pages and get right into reading Buffet directly. After reading the rest of the book go back and read the first 26 pages for a great summary.
A must read for anyone interested in business.
Perfect.......2007-08-14
Lucid and brilliant, a clear lesson on capital allocation. The only objection would be the repeated content, but truthfully it helped the ideas sink in a bit.
Thank you for editing this collection Professor Cunningham.
Real Wisdom at a Good Price.......2007-08-05
I work for a financial services company, and I'm subjected to corporate gobbledegook on a daily basis. Warren Buffett gets to the point. His explanations of financial transactions seem so effortless, I can't imagine how others get so confused and obtuse. Here's a mind worth delving in to, and this book lets you sit on the shoulder of a modern genius to see how he thinks. Good stuff.
excellent.......2007-07-09
These are the actual words penned by Buiffett. Not as dry as one would think, he's actually a wonderful writer. The Oracle of Omaha can turn a phrase and while parts of this are slow going, I enjoyed it throughly.
I heartily recommend this book for those desiring wealth. I also strongly recommend The Millionaire Mind by Tom Stanley. The Millionaire Mind
Book Description
There are many ways to make money in today’s market, but the one strategy that has truly proven itself over the years is value investing. Now, with The Little Book of Value Investing, Christopher Browne shows you how to use this wealth-building strategy to successfully buy bargain stocks around the world.
Customer Reviews:
Valuable Book.......2007-10-18
The "Little Book" Collection is a nice effort to bring sound investment advice to the average Joe like me in an understandable language, no bloviating here!
Terms like EBITDA, P/E Ratio, Cash Flow or Return on Capital sound frightening but Browne succeeds at presenting them in an accessible way, these concepts are important for those looking to give a fair treatment to their hard earned bucks. Value Investing, as Browne suggests based on tons of studies presented in the book, has outperformed the markets in the long run, so there is no reason for not assuming responsibility of your money and give a long term try to Value, especially if you are among those like me that believe that you can make money by buying $1 dollar bills for 60 cents.
For newbies in Value Investing and Contrarian strategies Joel Greenblatt's "Little Book that Beats the Market" is a perfect complement. For those who want to keep building knowledge I suggest to look for David Dreman's "Contrarian Investments Strategies" and "The Education of a Speculator" from Victor Niederhoffer, which is the best book on the Contrarian approach to investing.
Enlightning.......2007-08-27
I am an Investment Advisor and after 12 years of experience I have confirmed what has been in my mind for years. The Value approach does work. "Patience is a virtue" and a well paid one if you develope it.
Ramón A. Rivera-Ramos(Monchi)
Value investing oversimplified--poorly explained and unfocused.......2007-08-14
The Little Book of Value Investing is billed as an introduction to value investing--as a quick way to learn the tenets of this particular investment style and to lay a groundwork for either choosing a fund to manage your money or for further research. Instead it is a superficial look at value investing, quickly glossing over some very important aspects of choosing a company, failing to warn of the potential pitfalls that may arise, and presenting value investing as the only `safe' way to invest, which it is not. A value investing approach can fail in the market as well, and this book more or less refuses to acknowledge that.
This is one of those investing books I put in the "avoid" category for the simple reason that it provides just enough information to go out and get yourself hurt in the stock market. It skims the surface of many basic value investing tenets without going into enough detail to really help someone choose a company adequately. Worse yet it seems to set someone up perfectly for a "value trap"--a company that appears cheap when you examine it but which ends up performing very poorly for years after you buy it. An example: Browne explains price to earnings and argues that lower is better, advising that one of the primary criteria for value stocks is a low P/E relative to the market. He gives the example of some banks to show a low P/E stock. That's all well and good, but it's important to recognize that financials traditionally have lower P/Es than many other industries. If you really want to find value you need to evaluate a company's P/E relative to its historic price to earnings ratio, as well as compare it to the P/E of it's peers. Buying an integrated oil company at 15 times earnings will seem cheap if you've been looking at stocks with P/Es of 20, but if the company's peers are trading at 10 times earnings it does you little good.
Browne's example seems dangerous to me, as do many others he gives. When advising screening for a low P/E he never mentions a potential pitfall--that low P/E stocks can quickly turn into high P/E stocks if earnings estimates are slashed. A good example of this was homebuilding stocks in late 2006. Some of them were selling at 4 times earnings, but only until the earnings estimates were cut to the point that the P/E ratio suddenly became high and then in some cases ceased to exist as these companies began losing money. Browne's argument that stocks trading close to book value have a margin of safety is also flawed-what if the book value includes a bunch of real estate (again, homebuilders being a prime example) that was purchased high and is now declining in value?
It's not that Browne's advice is bad--it's just that it's limited and very incomplete. I feel it is important when teaching about investing to treat both the benefits AND the risks of a particular style of investing, and Browne fails to do that. Instead he acts as if following the simple methods he sets forth will give you a margin of safety (a la Ben Graham) that is foolproof. It is not.
My biggest problem with the book, however, stems from the fact that only about half of it has anything to do with investing at all. Browne rambles from time to time throughout the first half of the book, touching upon various principles here and there in a more or less disorganized manner. About 2/3 of the way through the book, however, he abandons any actual teaching, and spends most of the last 50 or so pages grinding his personal axes against clients, growth investing, bubbles, and a whole slew of other topics. That part of the book is useless in my opinion, especially since most of it is a rehash of things he ranted on earlier in the book.
When it's all said and done I cannot conceive why anyone would benefit from reading this book. If you're interested and are new to value investing this book, which can be read easily in one sitting, will not provide you the groundwork you need. If you're already a student, or at least a casual observer, of value investing you won't need someone to explain what a P/E ratio is to you and why lower is often better. Skip this one-if you want to learn about value investing there are many books out there that will provide you with the actual groundwork you need without glossing over and dismissing the limitations.
Helpful if limited in scope.......2007-07-29
After reading the first book in the "Little Book" series (The Little Book that Beats the Market), this book is a welcome change. It actually has information that one might find useful should he or she want to try value investing on their own. It lays out everything one should look for in a good company -- low debt, high returns on assets, competent management. It outlines how might one do their homework, and avoid some pitfalls.
It's a great beginner's guide to investing. And Browne explains things in a patient way that clearly shows he's been in the business for years and years. It's hard to think he's wrong.
What I found frustrating is that he tells us about how all of the REALLY good value stocks are overseas, but that information and accounting standards are spotty at best, so you're going to have learn German and Japanese and teach yourself international financial accounting standards to get the best deals and returns. Not exactly the domain of the small personal investor.
His tips are useful in screening stocks, and I plan on using them. And his point that finding the real gems in the stock market takes a lot of work rings true. I guess I wish, along with everyone else here, that it wasn't so hard to find the bargain names. So, Mr. Browne loses a star for dousing too much cold water reality on my stock-picking dreams.
Good Overview .... The Road to Wealth .......2007-07-06
Author Brown provides a very readable overview to the topic of value investing. Reading it may not make you the next Warren Buffet, but will give you insights into a more staid but consistently successful method of investing. This is the antithesis of day trading.
Unlike many financial tomes, this one need not come with English subtitles! Each chapter is like a stand-alone essay.
Invest your time wisely by reading, "The Little Book of Value Investing"!!
Book Description
"Trading is notoriously tough. But Altucher's new book adds a noteworthy addition to the library on Warren Buffett. He shows a lot of Buffett that isn't readily available in the existing common literature. Definitely required reading for any serious Buffett buff."
-Kenneth L. Fisher, Forbes' "Portfolio Strategy" Columnist Founder and CEO, Fisher Investments
"Finally, someone blows apart the myth that Warren Buffett is a buy-and-hold investor. Altucher has given us an insightful and well-written commentary on how Buffett has amassed his track record, and what we can do to emulate him. He details the trade-by-trade examples. This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about how the Master Investor works."
-John Mauldin, author, Bull's Eye Investing editor of Thoughts from the Frontline (www.2000wave.com)
While Warren Buffett is considered the "world's greatest value investor," there's another side to Buffett that is rarely talked about. Although Buffett has gained recognition for his value investing approach to the markets, the fact is that nobody-over the past fifty years-has traded and invested with a more diverse group of strategies than Buffett.
Trade Like Warren Buffett challenges the current coverage of this great investor by including details of all of Buffett's investing and trading methods, including mean reversion, commodities, bonds, arbitrage, market timing, funds, as well as Graham-Dodd. To augment the discussion of each strategy, Trade Like Warren Buffett also includes interviews with leading financial professionals, who reveal in detail how they've successfully used the same techniques.
There is no one way to sum up Warren Buffett's investment style. But if you're interested in boosting the performance of your portfolio, Trade Like Warren Buffett can show you how.
Download Description
A detailed look at the entire array of trading strategies and techniques used by Warren Buffett
Trade Like Warren Buffett challenges the current coverage of this great investor by including details of all of Buffett's investing and trading methods, including demographics, mean reversion, arbitrage, market timing, as well as Graham and Dodd. In addition to the value investing approach, this book discusses other, lesser-known trading strategies and techniques that have helped to make Buffett the greatest investor in history. To augment the discussion of each strategy, Trade Like Warren Buffett includes interviews with leading professionals who reveal in detail how they successfully use the same techniques as Buffett.
James Altucher (New York, NY) is a partner at Subway Capital, a hedge fund focused on special arbitrage situations, deep value, and short-term statistically based strategies. Previously, he was a partner with technology venture capital firm 212 Ventures and was CEO and founder of Vaultus, a wireless and software company. Altucher is also the author of Trade Like a Hedge Fund (0-471-48485-7).
Customer Reviews:
Well worth reading.......2007-08-07
This is the single best volume on Warren Buffett's investment history. Written for the financial professional rather than the general reader, this book focuses on what Buffett actually did and how what he did changed significantly over time.
Altucher's account goes into detail and explains how Buffett's thinking evolved as the result of a changing financial environment and a more nuanced perspective on Dodd's notion of intrinsic value.
Bad for me!.......2006-12-22
I bought this book with the intention to learn something but i have not. The book is sectioned into lengthy paragraphs. the author also throws in some comments and interviews from other investment guru (how guru are they) but it makes reading even more confusing,
more often, the interviews serve no purpose to the chapter and tends to deviate away from topic.
A better book would be "The trading habits of warren buffett and georege soros"
A bad book for new investors.
Altucher's best work........2006-12-15
Trade Like a Hedge Fund and Super Cash are both brilliant books, with innovative ideas. However, this book is well researched and offers unique insight on Warren Buffett, showing us that Buffett is far more than what the media portrays him as in his investment style, which is, namely buy and hold forever, and diversify. Buffett is a focus value investor, who is not beyond engaging in event driven plays such as risk arbitrage, which this book covers rather well. In addition, he also ran one of the earliest hedge funds before they were even called hedge funds. A brilliant piece of work.
Review - Steven Anello.......2006-10-21
A rather informative book that could have delved deeper into some of the issues. Although the book was fairly comprehensive in its coverage of the subject matter, I was left feeling that it could have taken ideas just a little further to their logical conclusions.
Steven Anello
Awful but not Worthless.......2006-04-21
I am a Finance MBA and Buffettphile and this book barely held my attention. They did a very poor editing job. The numerous errors detract from the work. A lot of "Buffett-like" and "Buffett-style" speculation but not so much Buffett.
The book is lacking in too many areas to illustrate them all. I'll use the chapter on merger arbitrage as an example. Mr Altucher mentions some studies on merger arbitrage and how you can improve your success rate. He completely fails mention Graham's criteria for entering a merger arbitrage transaction as stated in the Intelligent Investor. The criteria are annualized 20% expected return and an estimated success probability of 80% or greater. Buffett probably still uses these. His overall treatment of merger arbitrage is woefully superficial. Anyone can calculate the return on capital if the merger succeeds. How do you determine the expected return on capital if the merger fails? How can you determine the implied probability of success from current market pricing? These and many other critical areas to one who practices merger arbitrage are not discussed.
While the book is not written in sufficient detail to actually be useful, Mr Altucher did cite many academic studies that I am anxious to read when I have the time. Mr Altucher, you got me. You put "Buffett" in the title and I bought the book.
Amazon.com
Among the library of investment books promising no-fail strategies for riches, Benjamin Graham's classic, The Intelligent Investor, offers no guarantees or gimmicks but overflows with the wisdom at the core of all good portfolio management.
The hallmark of Graham's philosophy is not profit maximization but loss minimization. In this respect, The Intelligent Investor is a book for true investors, not speculators or day traders. He provides, "in a form suitable for the laymen, guidance in adoption and execution of an investment policy" (1). This policy is inherently for the longer term and requires a commitment of effort. Where the speculator follows market trends, the investor uses discipline, research, and his analytical ability to make unpopular but sound investments in bargains relative to current asset value. Graham coaches the investor to develop a rational plan for buying stocks and bonds, and he argues that this plan must be a bulwark against emotional behavior that will always be tempting during abrupt bull and bear markets.
Since it was first published in 1949, Graham's investment guide has sold over a million copies and has been praised by such luminaries as Warren E. Buffet as "the best book on investing ever written." These accolades are well deserved. In its new form--with commentary on each chapter and extensive footnotes prepared by senior Money editor, Jason Zweig--the classic is now updated in light of changes in investment vehicles and market activities since 1972. What remains is a better book. Graham's sage advice, analytical guides, and cautionary tales are still valid for the contemporary investor, and Zweig's commentaries demonstrate the relevance of Graham's principles in light of 1990s and early twenty-first century market trends. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
The best book on investing ever written, this classic work offers sound and safe principles for investing – principles that have worked for more than the half century since the first edition was published. This revised edition features a new introduction, appendix and chapter updates.
Since its original publication in 1949, Benjamin Graham's book has remained the most respected guide to investing, due to his timeless philosophy of 'value investing', which helps protect investors against areas of possible substantial error and teaches them to develop long–term strategies with which they will be comfortable down the road.
Customer Reviews:
A must-read Classic.......2007-10-19
A must-read for anyone who has a serious interest in investing. While very informative, I do have to admit the prose is a bit stilted and it was a slog in some places. The commentary by Jason Zweig was excellent and gave a much needed change of pace from the text.
While it's true that many of the ideas presented here are now old-hat and can be found in many other books, there is something fascinating and sobering about reading the source. I think it will give any investor a historical dimension to their thinking that will prove valuable to them.
Absolute essential for every investor.......2007-10-08
This is basically Graham's original book with commentaries by Zweig who tries to make the book more enjoyable by relating it to the stock market in the late 90's. There are numerous commentaries and footnotes in Graham's chapters. In addition every other chapter is one written by Zweig. Overall, Zweig adds value by making Graham's original book more readable.
Ben Graham's writings (who was Warren Buffett's, arguably the world's greatest investor, teacher) are absolutely essential for any serious investor. Whether you agree or disagree with his views, as an investor in the stock market one needs to be familiar with Graham's theories and thoughts. I think that this book only adds to Graham's original book. If you are annoyed by Zweig (which I wasn't) you could always skip the chapters by him. Some have said that the commentaries are hard to ignore, but I believe overall Zweig does an excellent job applying Graham's teachings to the current situation in the market.
I usually pass my books to others but I plan to keep this one forever in my refernce library.
Intelligent investor........2007-09-19
Anyone who chooses to comprehend this classic text will without a doubt expand their knowledge within the universe of value investment techniques. Moreover, in these times of muddled distinction between the investor and speculator, there is no better reason to buy this precious piece of Graham's intellectual genius than now. For myself, this book was truly the first necessary step to bring the perpetual pernicious chaos of what is conveniently termed speculating, to a more lucid order as I learned the true value of Graham's principles of value investing. We can all benefit to learn from this book.
Timeless .......2007-09-11
This is the best book I've read on investing and will remain the standard for value investing.
Invest in this book, invest in yourself........2007-09-08
With more than one million copies sold and an endorsement on the cover by Warren Buffet, you know there has to be something to this book- and I think I know why. Simply because it is the first book ever to describe the emotional framework and analytical tools necessary for financial success for individual investors.
Probably the single best book on investing written for the lay-public and the stock market bible since its first appearance in 1949, it's a great resource, although it's quite a thick book and filled with detail- and probably not for anybody but the serious stock market investor. And if getting motivated to start investing is your problem, suggest The Sixty-Second Motivator. Good luck!
Amazon.com
Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Warren Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the 20th century -- an astounding net worth of $10 billion and counting. That awesome record has made him a cult figure.
This illuminating biography reveals a man whose conscientiousness, integrity, and good humor exist alongside an odd emotional isolation.
Buffett also masterfully traces his life: his enormously successful partnership; his early, inspired investments in American Express and Geico; his companionship and investment with Katharine Graham of the Washington Post; his role in the Capital Cities purchase of ABC; his unique relationship with his wife and mistress; and his rescue of the scandal-ridden Salomon Brothers.
Book Description
Since its hardcover publication in August of 1995, Buffett has appeared on the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Newsday and Business Week bestseller lists. The incredible landmark portrait of Warren Buffett's uniquely American life is now available in paperback, revised and updated by the author.
Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Warren Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the twentieth century--an astounding net worth of $10 billion, and counting. His awesome investment record has made him a cult figure popularly known for his seeming contradictions: a billionaire who has a modest lifestyle, a phenomenally successful investor who eschews the revolving-door trading of modern Wall Street, a brilliant dealmaker who cultivates a homespun aura.
Journalist Roger Lowenstein draws on three years of unprecedented access to Buffett's family, friends, and colleagues to provide the first definitive, inside account of the life and career of this American original. Buffett explains Buffett's' investment strategy--a long-term philosophy grounded in buying stock in companies that are undervalued on the market and hanging on until their worth invariably surfaces--and shows how it is a reflection of his inner self.
Customer Reviews:
Buffett by Roger Lowenstein.......2007-10-17
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
This is a beautifully written book about Warren Buffett, one of today's most important business persons. Lowenstein is an experienced and deep business writer.
I have purchased many copies of this book as gifts for friends. As a business school professor at UCLA, I make reference to this book several times per year in my class.
One of the BEST Books I've Ever Read.......2007-10-14
WOW! This is one of the best books I have ever read. How inspiring!!! I felt that I really got into the mind (the thinking) of this man through Lowensteins account. I felt like I learned a LOT about big business and investing even though there are no direct "lessons" or strategies taught in this book. It also validated the way I run my own business as far as making quick judgements based on my gut knowledge, having a hatred for wasteful reports, and a slew of other "common sense" approaches to business -- including old-fashioned TRUST between business partners. This book was also a HUGE eye-opener about big business CEOs and the "merger" mentality in the business world. I used to think that these folks were so smart and knew things I didn't know. It turns out that Buffet was often doing the OPPOSITE of these folks, and the book is quick to point out the fallacy of their ways. It was also an eye-opener as far as what a "shareholder" really IS (or should be) according to Buffet. It gives me hope, and I am now ready to start thinking about how to get to that first billion! ...now...if I can just get my hands on those past Bershire annual reports...
You can't copy an artist.......2007-09-01
Reading this account of Warren Buffet, I am in awe of this man's intellect and aptitude for what he has spent his life doing. Investing. You will soon realize that any hopes of copying Buffet's strategy or system isn't possible for the "average Joe". It would be the same to think you could produce an outcome exactly like Michaelangelo or Rembrandt-it can't be done.
Buffett biography.......2007-08-04
I've found that if one has a handle on money, most everything else in life falls together. After reading this book, I put 90% of my savings in Berkshire Class B. 10 years ago. I tap dance everyday that I did. Oh, by the way, it's a great read. He was emotionally abused by his mother. Anything by Roger Lowenstein tells important money stories well.
Great work - but could have avoided few chapters .......2007-07-21
Roger has done a great job portraying the life of master investor, especially the way he has described each of Buffet's major takeovers. I was about to give 5 stars, but at last moment I changed my mind to 4 stars because a few chapters I seem were out of context, especially the ones that describe more about his children and the ones that are totally dedicated to Salomon brothers. I guess these chapters seemed a liitle bit out of context.
Dayanand
visit me @ http://annualreportanalysis.blogspot.com
Book Description
Buffett is back . . . and better than before!
A decade has passed since the book that introduced the world to Warren Buffett --
The Warren Buffett Way by Robert Hagstrom -- first appeared. That groundbreaking book spent 21 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller list and sold over 1 million copies.
Since then, Warren Buffett has solidified his reputation as the greatest investor of all time -- becoming even richer and more successful, despite the wild fluctuation of the markets. How does this value investing legend continue to do it? That's where Robert Hagstrom and the Second Edition of
The Warren Buffet Way come in. This edition is a completely revised and updated look at the Oracle of Omaha -- comprising Buffett's numerous investments and accomplishments over the past ten years, as well as the timeless and highly successful investment strategies and techniques he has always used to come out a market winner. This edition is especially accessible as Buffett's basic tenets of investing are presented and illuminated with relevant and up to date examples.
Order your copy today!
Download Description
Buffett is back . . . and better than before!
A decade has passed since the book that introduced the world to Warren Buffett --
The Warren Buffett Way by Robert Hagstrom -- first appeared. That groundbreaking book spent 21 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller list and sold over 1 million copies.
Since then, Warren Buffett has solidified his reputation as the greatest investor of all time -- becoming even richer and more successful, despite the wild fluctuation of the markets. How does this value investing legend continue to do it? That's where Robert Hagstrom and the Second Edition of
The Warren Buffet Way come in. This edition is a completely revised and updated look at the Oracle of Omaha -- comprising Buffett's numerous investments and accomplishments over the past ten years, as well as the timeless and highly successful investment strategies and techniques he has always used to come out a market winner. This edition is especially accessible as Buffett's basic tenets of investing are presented and illuminated with relevant and up to date examples.
Order your copy today!
Customer Reviews:
Great Book about Warren Buffet.......2007-09-21
Gives you a simple overview about the investment genius. Great Book, gives you a feel forFinancial Statement Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide, 3rd Edition how the genius handles things.
Decent.......2007-09-15
The book is decent. If you really want to learn about the Buffet Way then there are better books -like "Making of an American capitalistic" and Essays of Buffet. This book tries to abstract the concepts and present them in an easy to read manner.
The reason I give it 3 stars is - after reading "Making of an American.." , I found the information in this book less useful.
Hagstrom does a good job of abstracting though.
Maybe I was expecting too much.......2007-06-14
It's not that this book isn't well written. It is factual and has much historical information. It thoroughly explains the early influences on Warren Buffet and how he has modified his approach over the years. After reading it, I'm not sure I really understand HOW WB decided to bet the farm on Coke or Washington Post, only that he did so. Perhaps it's too much to expect that I can read the book and become a genius investor or even understand how WB did.
Warren Buffet, What Else Can I say?.......2007-05-07
This book is like most books in the sense that it guides the reader through Birkshire Hathaways most important and most lucrative deals ever. The way that this book is different is that the author takes you through the mentality of Warren before, during and after those deals. It shows the reader a pyschological view at Warren's investing style and how we, the regular investor, could incorporate his style into our investing prefrences. Recommend this book to any Warren Buffett fan but not to the most serious and devoted investors out there. If you really want to invest like Warren, buy The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Grahm and Security Analysis by Benjamin Grahm and David Dodd. These books will shoe you exactly how Warren does it and why.
The philosophy of Warren Buffett without getting to technical.......2007-04-19
Warren Buffet is the greatest investor alive today. His track record speaks for itself and this book goes some small way towards explaining the inner workings of this investment genius. A few years ago I passed on buying Buffetology because I thought I wasn't ready for it and now found this book from my best friend Vergal Walton.
The Warren Buffet Way is the most readable book I've come across on investment so far. The essence of this book is summarised in the various chapters of the book. The stories of the companies that Buffet invests in from the earliest days to the most recent are all entertaining and extremely insightful. One of the core underlying principles is to take the long term view of with investments. And when buying shares to think of it as buying a business and behaving in a way that the owner would behave. The Dot com crash was almost a directly result of short term opportunistic investments. And the whole investment philosophy of Buffet rests on theories expounded more than 50 years ago by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in Security Analysis as well as The Intelligent Investor also by Graham.
Historically Buffet bought sizeable interests in publicly traded companies from the Coca-Cola company to the Gillette company. And more recently he has moved into purchasing privately held companies outright. As he says he is willing to own these businesses forever. That is an exceptional attitude in investment. Hagestrom described Buffet as the focussed investor. Rather investing large sums of money in a smaller number of companies.
The Focus Investor's Golden Rules:
1.Concentrate your investment in outstanding companies run by strong management
2.Limit yourself to the number of companies you can truly understand. Ten to twenty is good, more than twenty is asking for trouble.
3.Pick the very best of your good companies, and put the bulk of your investment there.
4.Think long-term: five to ten years, minimum.
5.Volatility happens. Carry on.
Book Description
A collection of pithy and inspiring sayings from America's favorite businessman that reveal his secrets of success
Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application. In The Tao of Warren Buffett, Mary Buffett -- author of three books on Warren Buffett's investment methods -- joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy.
Warren Buffett's investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren's practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor -- large or small -- and models everyone can follow. The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett's own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work.
As Warren says:
"You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will."
"With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year."
"No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."
"Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do."
The Tao of Warren Buffett inspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.
Customer Reviews:
A Small Book That Delivers A Large Message.......2007-10-11
This physically small book delivers a very large message from one of our most admired and analyzed business leaders: Warren Buffett. He earned his billions by investing in conservative companies with strong balance sheets, along with passionate managers and subordinates who focused on the long-term. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, is a sterling example that has rewarded its shareholders for decades.
This book is a collection of 125 of Mr. Buffett's quotes on a variety of topics. The authors, Mary Buffett and David Clark, were a former daughter-in-law, and family friend, respectively. They are best-selling authors of what they term "Buffettology," which is the study of the tremendous investment and business acumen of this intriguing man.
Ms. Buffett and Mr. Clark have organized this book into fourteen chapters. For example, Business, Education, The Workplace, and Why Not To Diversify. You will learn from the wisdom and insights of Mr. Buffett, along with the personal examples from his life that the authors provide after each quote.
Here are a few appetizers from the Oracle of Omaha:
"If Calculus or Algebra were required to be a great investor, I'd have to go back to delivering newspapers."
"Never be afraid to ask too much when selling or offer too little when buying."
"You can't make a good deal with a bad person."
"You should invest like a Catholic marries: for life."
"You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because some day, a fool will."
"In looking for someone to hire, you look for three things: integrity, intelligence, and energy. But the most important is integrity, because if they don't have that the other qualities, intelligence and energy, are going to kill you."
"It's hard to teach a young dog new tricks."
"Managing your career is like investing The degree of difficulty does not count. So you can save yourself money and pain by getting on the right train."
"Never ask a barber if you need a haircut."
"Wall Street makes its money on activity. You make money on inactivity."
"Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing."
"I'd be a bum in the street with a tin cup if the markets were efficient."
"What we learn from history is that people don't learn from history."
"We do not have, nor have had, and never will have an opinion about where the stock market, interest rates, or business activity will be a year from now."
My personal favorite: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to lose it. If you think about that, you will do things differently."
As of 10 October 2007, the Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) closed trading on the NYSE at $124,700 per share. The Class B shares, which were introduced in 1996 (BRK-B), closed the day at $4160. Berkshire Hathaway has never split either class of its stock. That point was not addressed in this otherwise excellent compilation.
For a great philanthropist, businessman, and investment expert such as Mr. Buffett, it seems ironic that most of us can't afford to purchase shares in his company. Wouldn't you want to know his thoughts on that topic? That was one quote I had hoped to see. With or without a stock split, this book will be a blue chip addition to your library. Buying it may be one of your better investment decisions.
Great book!! It's a must read!! .......2007-09-29
Want to learn about investing or get a feel for how the greatest investor of all time thinks!! Well, if you do, you better buy this book!! This book gives you a feel and idea of how the greatest investor of all time thinks through things!! One of the best books on Buffet I've ever read, if not the best!!! It's short and to the point!! Belongs on every serious investors book self!!Financial Statement Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide, 3rd Edition
THE TAO OF WARREN BUFFETT.......2007-09-29
MUST READ FOR ANY SERIOUS INVESTOR, HE TEACHES THE LONG TERM GAME, HE PROVES THAT ANYONE CAN GET RICH OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME IF ONE DOES NOT GET CAUGHT IN THE SHORT-TERM GAME.
INCREDIBLE BOOK! MUST READ!
one for the massess.......2007-08-09
This is a great book that everyone interested in being successul in life should read
Helpful to the amateur trader.......2007-05-29
In a day and age where one can easily and inexpensively manage a portfolio and trade on the stock market, this book provides helpful insights into the difference between investing and speculating. I hope consequently to be more prudent in the choice of my investments. In particular there is strong warning against the speculative type of investment in companies that are full of hopes but short on a solid track record.
Significant in this is Buffets avoidance of technology stocks.
Book Description
Written for both the novice and experienced investor, this fascinating blend of biography and keen investment analysis has garnered acclaim in the world of high finance.
Nikki Ross has struck the mother lode about how to invest wisely in an increasingly uncertain world. The easy to follow investment insights she's gathered impart the various strategies of these ""superinvestors"" and explain how to integrate and implement them in today's markets. Five lifetimes of legendary Wall Street wisdom are distilled into three brilliantly simple steps. Readers will learn how best to gather the information and find investment leads; evaluate the data; and when to buy, hold and sell.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read for Investors.......2004-05-14
This book has a refreshingly commonsense approach to investing. It contains a great deal of worthwhile advice and wisdom from some of the world's best investors. I am not an experienced investor, however I found it to be understandable and learned useful information from it. I would highly recommend it.
A Classic "Must Read" Investment Book.......2004-04-15
Nikki Ross has documented principal strategies and investing advice from the great Wall Street legends of our time. I have found the underlying principals of Buffet and his mentors as well as Price and Templeton to be very helpful. It is an easy to read enjoyable book. It may not be for day traders in general, but they could benefit from the list of questions asked by the masters before investing. I believe that had many investors read and applied this book prior to and during the recent crash, they might have saved a lot of money.
Blake Conant
Just read the "Evaluation" part.......2004-03-07
This book discusses on the techniques Warren Buffet (value/growth), Benjamin Graham (value), Phil Fisher (growth), T. Rowe Price (growth), and John Templeton (growth use or have used to make their fortunes.
The book is divided into 6 parts on one each of these legends and another on how to combine the knowledge of these experts. The sections are organized in an interesting way first off you learn what some of the stocks the well known investor has bought and why they met their purchasing criteria. There is also a nice 3 steps to how you can use their methods in your investments, this in turn is organized by:
1. Gathering information (this part it almost worthless in my opinion since it is very similar for each of the investors)
2. Evaluate (this is the best part of each of the areas in the book, you learn the questions these masters would ask a company and themselves. It's very good.)
3. Making decisions discusses how the masters decide when to buy and sell the stock.
This book and "The Money Masters" by John Train are interesting reads if you enjoy learning about the careers and wisdom these masters are willing to share.
I believe this book wouldn't be very useful for strict CAN SLIM investors or day traders but good for the buy and hold or long term growth and value investors it definitely shows you some of the possibilities.
Reed Floren
Worthless.......2004-02-26
This book is worthless. The true 'lessons' make up only a few pages of the book and these lessons are not detailed enough to make financially sound decisions. For example, a lesson such as "What is the PE Ratio?" is similar to what you would find in the book. OK, the PE ratio is 3. Is that good? Is that bad? How about 40? What is high? What is low? Do current interest rates effect PE ratio levels? What is an acceptable PE ratio for a growth stock? What is an acceptable PE ratio for a cyclical stock? You'll get no answers from this book.
The best "lessons" section (though still unacceptable) came from John Templeton. But these were a direct quote from an interview Templeton gave the Christian Science Monitor. The author must have spent a few weeks writing this book.
Most of the book is babble, reproduction of articles/reports, duplication of previous sections, and educational definitions for the newbie.
My lesson to you is to take the money you were going spend on this book and go buy a U.S. Savings bond. You will be richer and wiser in the end.
Not all its cracked up to be..........2004-02-23
...- I bought the book BUT Nikki Ross gives a basic three-step approach to investing, that is repeated throughout the book. 1. Collect info, 2. Analyse info, 3. Make a decision. And that's about as complex as the book gets.
Don't waste your money, unless you're after a very simplistic overview of investing. ALL OF THE FIVE STAR REVIEWS OVERRATE THIS BOOK - 1 Star (at best).
...
If you're after real value on practical management implementation tools that link strategy & financial numbers then YOU HAVE TO INVEST IN "Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy" by Robert Simons.
Average customer rating:
- Yawner
- An Occasional Five or Ten Minutes Could be Most Beneficial
- Maybe not the "best" but "very good"
- The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received: Priceless Wisdom from Warren Buffett, Jim Cramer, Suze Orman, Steve Forbes, and Do
- There are better books out there.
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The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received: Priceless Wisdom from Warren Buffett, Jim Cramer, Suze Orman, Steve Forbes, and Dozens of Other Top Financial Experts
Liz Claman
Manufacturer: Business Plus
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0446578479 |
Book Description
Personal, direct, and insightful, this indispensable guideprovides immediate yet timeless advice about a subject Americans are alwaysdesperate to know more about: Where can they put their money for maximumreturns and as little risk as possible? Now, the nation's top investmentprofessionals and corporate CEOs share their collective wisdom with Emmy-Award-winning financial journalist Liz Claman. Readers will feel likethey're sitting in their living rooms in private conversation with suchcontributors as: John C. Bogle, Founder, Vanguard Group Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Bill Gross, Founder and CIO, PIMCO Susan Ivey, CEO, Reynolds American Inc. A. G. Lafley, Chairman, Procter Gamble Georgette Mosbacher, CEO, Borghese Cosmetics John Myers, CEO, GE Asset Management Suze Orman, bestselling author And many more.
Customer Reviews:
Yawner.......2007-05-12
I was moving cross-country and this was one of several audiobooks I purchased for the trip. I'm not a newbie to this material so perhaps that is why I almost drove myself into a ditch with boredom. Probably best for someone who doesnt read the WSJ or watch CNBC on a regular basis.
An Occasional Five or Ten Minutes Could be Most Beneficial.......2007-03-13
"Best Investment Advice I Ever Received" is a quick and easy read. It includes a lot of great advice offered by those who really know what they are talking about. Truly, these individuals have earned our respect. This is not a so-called great book. However, Liz Claman has put together a work that can be profitably read for five to ten minutes at a time. It easily deserves 4 3/4 stars out of 5.
Maybe not the "best" but "very good".......2007-02-04
The book contains short essays from the best known financial experts of our day and it is always exciting to hear their personal comments. Having read through everyones advice, the twisted yet comfortable thought from Mike Jackson says it all; "..how exciting it is to be boring..."
What I mean by that is the culmination of expert thought in this book: save early and save often and diversify your investing for the long run. Stay away from fads and short term schemes. To paraphrase Weissenstein, the more people try to hit a home run, the more likely it is that they'll strike out.
Only a couple of the short essays were predictably boring - like Robert Kiyosaki and Alan Miller. However, just picking up a quote here and there from the other contributors was well worth the price of the book. I know I will be using a number of these quotes in the future.
Oh yeah, my favorite quote? that goes to Alan Skrainka: "Investment decisions should be based on investment principles, not investment predictions." Continuously educate yourself so you are prepared for smart decisions and don't try to guess on highs and lows. Watching your money grow over a long period of time may sound very boring, but it is exciting to know you have invested your hard earned money based on the best investment advice you'll ever receive.
The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received: Priceless Wisdom from Warren Buffett, Jim Cramer, Suze Orman, Steve Forbes, and Do.......2007-01-27
A great book!
There are better books out there........2007-01-24
This is a compilation of thoughts from various business and finance gurus, each ranging from a few lines to a few pages in length. Some of them are inciteful and well worth heeding. Others were so shallow that I wonder why they chose to include them at all. You are better off reading Jim Cramer's several books or the classics by Bogle, Lynch, and Graham, if you want to improve your investment skills. If you are looking for basic household money management help, look at Dave Ramsey's publications.
Product Description
The first chapter makes the case that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, although based in Omaha, has emerged as a truly international company. Chapter 2 explores Buffett's extraordinary gift of the bulk of his fortune to the Gates Foundation. Chapter 3 reveals what Gates gave Buffett as a thank you (surprisingly, Gates gave Buffett a 1776 first edition of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations). And Chapter 4 tells of Buffett's purchase of Iscar, the precision tool company in Israel, and tracks BUffett's visit to Israel to visit Iscar's facilities and to meet with the Israeli prime minister. Also, there are chapters (among the 335) about Buffett's wedding on his 76th birthday, Berkshire's stock price surpassing $100,000 and Berkshire's bid to bail out the Lloyd's of London "Names." The fully revised book has more than 1,200 photos. The back cover photo is of Buffett and NBA's LeBron James.
Customer Reviews:
Rather disappointed.......2007-08-03
A lot of info about Buffett & his investment history, but most of them is useless. I see rubbish rather than helpful info in this book.
Ballooning volume size with shrinking contents.......2007-05-13
Kind of dissapointed after flipping through the two huge volumes. Nice pictures (but many of them not that clear)through out the book, and seemed to keep up to day with most of the recent events related to Warren Buffett. But the events has not much to read about. For example, about Buffett's purchase of USG stocks lately, only simply mentioned the fact without any background or related story (but the table of contents sure seemed to suggest otherwise). The older one-volume version of the book seemed to have more stuff to read then the new two-volume version, even the older text-only cover seemed to be nicer than the colorful picture-jammed new cover. The new 2 volume version seems to be a chronicle album rather than a historical book. Usually less really means more. Ballooning a book's size with air would only send the disappointed readers away.
Quantity AND quality!.......2007-04-25
I've just finished Volume 1 - a mere 903 pages - and it's terrific. The subject matter is compelling, of course, but Andy's own little humorous asides make this a very fun read!
far and away the best edition yet.......2007-04-24
If you want to gain insight into what makes Warren Buffett tick and what Berkshire Hathaway is really all about -- you NEED to get Andy Kilpatrick's Of Permanent Value. I have nearly every edition, and this 2007 International Edition, a two volume set, is superior to the past editions both in the extended quality of its content and in the upgraded physical quality of the book. The paper stock of this OPV is glossy and it is much "richer" than previous editions -- much more befitting the man who is it's subject. OPV 2007 IE is simply an essential part of anyone's library. I buy two -- one for home and one for the office. Every time I pick up the book I learn something new about Buffett, Berkshire and the businesses and people that make up this amazing story. A great gift for that Buffett-phile who has everything or the student who wants to learn more about this interesting and complex man/business.
The most comprehensive study of the life of the world's greatest invesor.......2007-01-26
Andy has really outdone himself with this set of two volumes. It has so much information in it that one has to pace himself when reading.There are 1800 plus pages. I find it highly interesting and infomative. If ever one wanted to know any thing about Warren Buffett, then this is the place to go. It probably has facts about WEB that even he may have forgotten.
That fact that this book has compiled just about evey fact that one might want to know about Buffett, from what type of car he drives to how many cokes he consumes a day, to his fond love of hamburgers,to the cost of his house in Omaha, it is in this set of two volulmes.
I am especially impressed with the stories on the early days of his partnership, and the wealth creation that came with throwing in with the unknown WEB. The amount of millionaires that he has created through his investing genius, as well as his patience on investing for the long term is to be found in this treatise over and over. I also feel that the lessons of life that Warren teaches is also most important. His value system is also on the mark. It is truly an amazing fact that the man is so correct in the manner in which he makes money, and also that he is so far ahead of the curve when it comes to his personal ethics. For example, when he got out of Freddy Mac, most people did not understand why. He did and sure enough, along come the accouting issues. He preached about stock options being expensed, about eating your own cooking. He has talked about the dangers of derivatives as well as excessive executive compensation. He is on the mark on all issues, and he sees the problems and explains it in simple english. Probably best of all, he lives his life in front of an open window,with everyone watchine his every move, but he lives it like he tells it. Andy has really laid it all out for anyone to see.
I know that if one wants to know how to invest like Warren Buffett, that this is a "must have" set. It is the best $ 50.00 dollars that a person will ever spend in the quest of long term investing and making money.
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