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INVESTING PRINCIPLES FROM THE MASTER
Ignore Sound Bites That Rattle Markets
Treat Market Pessimism as Your Friend
Do the Little Things Right
Protect Your Capital When the Facts Turn Upside Down
Rely on CEOs Who Nurture Healthy Corporate CulturesRemember That Large, Unfathomable Derivatives AreStill Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction
Seek Simplicity and Candor
Millions of people download Warren Buffett's shareholder letters, searching for tips from the world's greatest investor. Many miss the best part of his letter: his principles. It is their loss. Following these principles, Buffett has turned Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling textile manufacturer, into one of the most respected companies in the world. Early investors have become billionaires. This essential guide to Buffett's shareholder letters highlights what the pundits aren't telling you and what you can learn about building long-lasting wealth.
Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors in history. His annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders have attained legendary status among Wall Street and Main Street investors. Each informative and entertaining letter offers lessons about life, business, and the art of investing that are essential to creatinglong-lasting wealth. They are based on Buffett's dogged pursuit of the Golden Rule of ownermanager partnership: Treat shareholders the way you would want to be treated-if you were in their place.
In Buffett's Bites , L. J. Rittenhouse, CEO candorexpert and former Wall Street banker, serves up an in-depth look at Buffett's 2008 shareholder letter, highlighting 25 tantalizing nuggets of wisdom. These "bites" afford an inside look at Buffett's unconventional ways that have created Berkshire Hathaway's unrivaled success.
With unflinching honesty and insight, the "Oracleof Omaha" talks candidly about today's turbulent market: what makes a company worth investing in; why you shouldn't panic when experts insist "the sky is falling"; when to re-evaluate your portfolio; and how to invest safely and wisely for the long haul.
Each savory bite is enhanced with practical information and a timeless moral that can be applied to your own wealth-building strategies.
List of contents
Introduction
Part I The ABCs of CEO Shareholder Letters
1 What Are Shareholder Letters and Who Reads Them?
2 Why Read Shareholder Letters?
3 What Makes Berkshire Hathaway's Letters Different?
4 What Is the Berkshire Hathaway Report Card?
5 Is Warren Buffett a CEO or a CCAO?
6 Why Does Buffett Tap-Dance to Work Every Day?
Part II Bite-Sized Investor Truths
7 How to Spot Great Businesses Run by Great Managers
8 How to Become an Intelligent Investor
Part III Principles-Based Capitalism for the Twenty-First Century
9 Fiduciary Genetics: The Berkshire Hathaway Owner's Manual
10 Warren Buffett and Galileo: Traditions of Heresy
11 Woodstock or Camelot: Ideals, Images, and Greed
Acknowledgments
Footnote
Fn1
Fn2
About the author
L. J. Rittenhouse (New York, NY) is president of Rittenhouse Rankings Inc, a CEO strategic and investor relations company that annually conducts a benchmark survey of CEO candor and stock price performance. Her research shows that candor drives superior performance, and companies that consistently strive to promote candor gain competitive advantage and superior valuation. Her metrics reveal which companies excel in candor and which do not. In fact, recent research by Rittenhouse Rankings shows a substantial decline in credible CEO communication over the past five years. Rittenhouse advises large-cap and mid-sized companies on how to build internal programs that improve corporate communications and valuation. She specializes in showing clients how to penetrate corporate blind spots that in turn, strengthen the corporate culture and improve execution. Her contributions to promoting capital stewardship and candor have been recognized by Warren Buffett, Jack Bogle, Jack Welch and other respected business leaders. In 2007, her critique of annual meetings was featured in the Wall Street Journal. Prior to founding Rittenhouse Rankings, Rittenhouse was a senior vice president in corporate finance at Lehman Brothers Inc., where she advised clients on valuation and strategies, public securities offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. She has an MBA and an MS from Columbia University, and is a founding member of the non-profit, Families with Children from China.
Summary
Warren Buffett is one of the successful investors in history. His annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders have attained legendary status among Wall Street and Main Street investors. This book looks at Buffett's 2008 shareholder letter, that highlights 25 nuggets of wisdom.
