Quotes of Warren Buffet

·         You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right.

·         We do not view the company itself as the ultimate owner of our business assets but instead view the company as a conduit through which our shareholders own assets.

·         When Berkshire buys common stock, we approach the transaction as if we were buying into a private business.

·         Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.

·         Accounting consequences do not influence our operating or capital-allocation decisions. When acquisition costs are similar, we much prefer to purchase $2 of earnings that is not reportable by us under standard accounting principles than to purchase $1 of earnings that is reportable.

·         Never invest in a business you cannot understand.

·         Unless you can watch your stock holding decline by 50% without becoming panic-stricken, you should not be in the stock market.

·         Why not invest your assets in the companies you really like? As Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful".

·         (When speaking of managers and executive compensation) The .350 hitter expects, and also deserves, a big payoff for his performance - even if he plays for a cellar-dwelling team. And a .150 hitter should get no reward - even if he plays for a pennant winner.

·         The critical investment factor is determining the intrinsic value of a business and paying a fair or bargain price.

·         Risk can be greatly reduced by concentrating on only a few holdings.

·         Stop trying to predict the direction of the stock market, the economy, interest rates, or elections.

·         Many stock options in the corporate world have worked in exactly that fashion: they have gained in value simply because management retained earnings, not because it did well with the capital in its hands.

·         Buy companies with strong histories of profitability and with a dominant business franchise.

·         Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.

·         It is optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.

·         As far as you are concerned, the stock market does not exist. Ignore it.

·         The ability to say "no" is a tremendous advantage for an investor.

·         Much success can be attributed to inactivity. Most investors cannot resist the temptation to constantly buy and sell.

·         Lethargy, bordering on sloth should remain the cornerstone of an investment style.

·         An investor should act as though he had a lifetime decision card with just twenty punches on it.

·         Wild swings in share prices have more to do with the "lemming- like" behaviour of institutional investors than with the aggregate returns of the company they own.

·         As a group, lemmings have a rotten image, but no individual lemming has ever received bad press.

·         An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he or she avoids big mistakes.

·         "Turn-arounds" seldom turn.

·         Is management rational?

·         Is management candid with the shareholders?

·         Does management resist the institutional imperative?

·         Do not take yearly results too seriously. Instead, focus on four or five-year averages.

·         Focus on return on equity, not earnings per share.

·         Calculate "owner earnings" to get a true reflection of value.

·         Look for companies with high profit margins.

·         Growth and value investing are joined at the hip.

·         The advice "you never go broke taking a profit" is foolish.

·         It is more important to say "no" to an opportunity, than to say "yes".

·         Always invest for the long term.

·         Does the business have favourable long term prospects?

·         It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.

·         Remember that the stock market is manic-depressive.

·         Buy a business, don't rent stocks.

·         Does the business have a consistent operating history?

·         An investor should ordinarily hold a small piece of an outstanding business with the same tenacity that an owner would exhibit if he owned all of that business.