Warren Buffett
Fifty years of shareholder letters
Business
Buffett has run Berkshire Hathaway since 1965 and explained himself once a year, in plain English, in a letter anyone can read. The investing advice is famous; the temperament underneath it is the actual lesson — patience, staying inside what you understand, and treating volatility as someone else's problem.
Read when everyone around you is certain and in a hurry
Any investor can chalk up large returns when stocks soar.
Berkshire Hathaway 1997 Chairman's Letter · 1998
You can, of course, pay too much for even the best of businesses.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
Selling fine businesses on "scary" news is usually a bad decision.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
You must also resist the temptation to stray from your guidelines.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
Managers who are really exceptional almost always get far less than they should.
Berkshire Hathaway 1985 Chairman's Letter · 1986
Intelligent investing is not complex, though that is far from saying that it is easy.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
If you aren't willing to own a stock for ten years, don't even think about owning it for ten minutes.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
No owner has ever escaped the burden of capital costs, whereas a holder of a fixed-price option bears no capital costs at all.
Berkshire Hathaway 1985 Chairman's Letter · 1986
Loss of focus is what most worries Charlie and me when we contemplate investing in businesses that in general look outstanding.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
Ironically, the rhetoric about options frequently describes them as desirable because they put managers and owners in the same financial boat. In reality, the boats are far different.
Berkshire Hathaway 1985 Chairman's Letter · 1986
In a bull market, one must avoid the error of the preening duck that quacks boastfully after a torrential rainstorm, thinking that its paddling skills have caused it to rise in the world.
Berkshire Hathaway 1997 Chairman's Letter · 1998
A far more serious problem occurs when the management of a great company gets sidetracked and neglects its wonderful base business while purchasing other businesses that are so-so or worse.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
To invest successfully, you need not understand beta, efficient markets, modern portfolio theory, option pricing or emerging markets. You may, in fact, be better off knowing nothing of these.
Berkshire Hathaway 1996 Chairman's Letter · 1997
