Warren Buffett's Annual Letter 2007
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2007ltr.pdf
We'll talk about it on the radio show tomorrow.
I read it every year. I'm not sure we (including myself) fully appreciate what a gift it is to have an investor as intelligent as Buffett, with the life experience in investing that he has, write this letter every year and then just publish it to the world.
There are several reasons why I say this:
1. Buffett is patient. He waits for the fat pitch.
2. He has a track record to back up the talk. Some people say "Well, he's really just in the insurance business." The answer is that no, he's not in the insurance business, he's in the business of running insanely great insurance businesses and then using the massive amount of cash flow produced by said business to outright buy other awesome businesses, and stock in other super incredible businesses.
3. He has worked with Charlie Munger for a zillion years. This is his team. They do it together. Buffett gives Munger props all the time; Munger is happy to not be in the spotlight.
4. They invest in what they know.
5. They invest in great managers. I love this focus on great people.
6. They don't overpay. If the deal is too expensive, they walk away. Read this year's letter for a story about that.
7. They share. Buffett committed to give nearly his entire fortune to charity -- and he's still alive.
8. He made a boatload of cash from currency trading. You gotta love that. Read last year's letter to get the inside scoop.
9. He's humble.
I often think about the things that I could do to have gotten into trading at a much earlier age. What I often think about at those times, is that I should have been reading what Buffett wrote a lot sooner, too.
Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!
