Sunday, December 2, 2007

Buff-a-what-a-gee?

Buffettology looks at investing from the view point of the big man, Warren Buffet, legendary investor and 2nd richest man in the USA. The author, Mary Buffet, is the ex-wife of Buffet's son. But I guess she kept the name.

Whatever.

She describes his basic investing strategy as "business investing." That means not trading stocks with wild abandon, but rather looking at the entire business and deciding to invest on the merits of holding stock for years, or forever. For example, if you had the money, would you purchase ALL of the company for yourself? In this way, you know that you are dedicated to holding it for the long-term, certain that it will continue to bring in good earnings, and give you a great return on your investment.

He views stocks from the point of view of bond investing. Essentially, a bond gives a fixed rate of return. A stock is reviewed concerning the earnings per share and growth rate. If they are assumed to remain fairly constant, then the earnings of the stock (how much it appreciates over say, ten years) can be equated to a percentage return annually. This can be compared to the annual return on a fixed investment such as bonds. There are numerous examples in the book for you to investigate.

The trick is assuming earnings and growth will continue. this is where the idea of a margin of safety and consumer monopoly comes in. Coca-cola can charge much more than other companies for the same product because of name recognition, and it does not need to invest money in research and development or other capital expenditures in other companies.

What to buy? I looked at some ideas from the buffet letters to shareholders, the buffetwatch blog, and did some searches. I came up with a company Wabco (WBC), that makes vehicle control and stabilization systems.

If it is good enough for Warren, then it is good enough for me!

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