As I sat down this week to research for a new blog post, I read several news headlines on how Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) has outperformed the stock market this year so far. This motivated me to take a look at my own investing history with Berkshire. Berkshire and I go … [Read more...] about Long live Berkshire!
LongTermInvesting
Two companies, two great share buybacks
I own shares in two companies whose CEOs have been at the helm for over twenty years. These two businesses are not in the same industry. They don’t have much in common—one is in the video game business, and the other is in investment banking. As you can imagine, their business … [Read more...] about Two companies, two great share buybacks
The odds of making money in stocks
Whether we like it or not, we investors are always making bets. We invest our capital with the expectation that down the road we will be able to recover all of it plus some. But since the future is unknowable, we implicitly make a bet every time we invest. Specifically, … [Read more...] about The odds of making money in stocks
A guide for young investor
I am in my fifties and I have been saving and investing since I began working full time more than twenty-five years ago. I have been writing about my investing in these pages for about three years. If you are in your 20s or 30s, perhaps you just started earning enough to save … [Read more...] about A guide for young investor
Another weekend of worry
Barron’s magazine had its annual roundtable issue last week. This is where it gathers several high-profile investors and money managers around a table to discuss new year’s prospects for the economy and the stock market. There was much consternation about the next twelve … [Read more...] about Another weekend of worry
Buy right, sell never!
Happy new year! I thought I would start this new year’s first post with something provocative. My investing motto has been to ‘buy right, sell never’. Buying right is of course neither controversial nor provocative. It’s just common sense. Selling never can be questioned by … [Read more...] about Buy right, sell never!
Bear market: a curse or a blessing?
I wish all investors get at least one bear market in their investing journeys. A lot of people would consider this a curse—but it really is a blessing in disguise. I will explain why. Today, financial media is focused on when this bull market will end. As if the end of a bull … [Read more...] about Bear market: a curse or a blessing?
Invest in high-quality businesses
High quality businesses keep on giving—year in and year out. This is one key lesson I learned in my early investing years. Take the case of Wal-Mart (WMT) for instance. Ten years after its IPO in 1970, Wal-Mart had presence in just about 15% of the country. The stock had already … [Read more...] about Invest in high-quality businesses
My uber dividend payers
CenturyLink (CTL), a large U.S. telecom operator, has just slashed its dividend by more than one-half. For the last two years, it had sported a mouth-watering double-digit dividend yield that reached as high as about 16% recently. It was no surprise that many dividend-seeking … [Read more...] about My uber dividend payers
Weekend worrying about the economy
A couple of weeks ago I was at our local library checking out the Barron’s weekly. They had their annual roundtable issue out. Every year in January, Barron’s invites a few successful well-known money managers to gather around a table and discuss their thoughts for the new year. … [Read more...] about Weekend worrying about the economy