The top business leaders
good story on value investing
The trend towards the home-building industry
Respect - Berkshire Hathawayt comes in at number 8
No stock splits
Golden Western Financial - as good as Buffett?
Value investing, by Janet Rowe
The top business leaders
Warren Buffett is amongst 25 luminaries named by the University of Pennsylvania’s
Wharton School in its list of the top business leaders since 1975. The list includes:
Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com
John Bogle, the Vanguard Group
Warren Buffett
Michael Dell, Dell Computers
Bill Gates
Louis Gerstner, IBM
Alan Greenspan
Steve Jobs, Apple Computers
Peter Lynch, Fidelity Magellan Fund
Frederick Smith, Federal Express
Ted Turner
Jack Welch, General Electric
Oprah Winfrey
Good story on value investing
The Globe and Mail has a good story on value investing with some stocks highlighted.
For the article go here.
The trend towards the home building industry
It looks as if Berkshire Hathaway will succeed in its bid to buy mobile homes building
company Oakwood Homes Corporation after a bankruptcy court formally approved
Berkshire’s bid.
As the company recently purchased homebuilder Clayton Homes, this suggests confidence
in the residential industry, particularly having regard to Berkshire’s association
with other businesses in the home building or home contents sectors.
Respect – Berkshire Hathaway comes in Number 8
A survey of top Chief Executive Officers ranks Berkshire Hathaway 8th amongst the
world’s most respected companies. According to a report in the Austin Business
Journal, the top 10 are:
1. General Electric Co
2. Microsoft
3. Toyota Motor Corp
4. IBM Corp.
5. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
6. Coca-Cola Co.
7. Dell
8. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
9. DaimlerChrysler AG
10. Sony Corp.
In the ranking of CEO’S, Warren Buffett came in second behind Bill Gates.
No stock splits
In a recent article, looking at small cap stocks, John W Rogers Jr recommends
advertising company Grey Global Group, which he describes as Berkshire Hathaway like in
its refusal to get involved in stock splitting. The full article can be found here.
Golden Western Financial – as good as Buffett?
In a recent interview, Marion and Herb Sandler, joint CEO’S OF Golden Western
Financial Corp, claim that their company has compounded its earnings at a rate over 20 per
cent in the last 35 years, a record they say is equaled only by that of Berkshire
Hathaway. The company is the parent company of the World Savings Bank, one of
America’s biggest savings and loans. The full article is well worth reading for the
financial philosophy of the Sandlers. Go here
BOOK REVIEW
Value Investing by Janet Lowe
This book is a little gem for anybody who has difficulties in understanding the
investment philosophy of Benjamin Graham.
Lowe, who has written extensively on Graham, explains many of the investment terms and
strategies given by Graham in his writings and relates them to current and up to date
business situations. She explains to the reader what value investment is and its
connection to both company growth and intrinsic value.
A particularly good chapter is the one on how to identify growth from the income
statements because, as readers are well aware, Warren Buffett’s particular gift has
been in finding companies selling at Graham prices but with great growth potential.
This book has been criticised as being too simple for anyone with a sound knowledge of
investment principles. We agree; it is for those people who do not yet have an
understanding of Graham and Buffett investment techniques. For those in this niche, it is
a good start.
Another criticism is that the author wrongly suggests that Buffett supports
diversification in stocks. Technically, this is true. Warren has on several occasions
suggested that investors concentrate on just a few stocks. This does not however mean that
Buffett is against diversification per se. If you look at the investments of Berkshire
Hathaway, you will find, although only a few stocks, a wide diversification across
industries.
The book is easy to understand for even the most basic of investors, and is well
researched. The index, like many these days, leaves a lot to be desired. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNING INVESTORS.
