Being like Buffett
March 12, 2004
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Warren Buffett might be one of the best value investors ever. So how do you replicate his success? You can't talk to management one-on-one the way he does. You don't have the leverage to buy whole companies outright, a major part of Berkshire Hathaway's strategy over the last 20 years. And if you have the capital reserve to withstand the occasional heavy mistakes that can happen with big, concentrated bets, you're already rich enough not to have to worry about emulating the Sage of Omaha.
But you can still absorb his philosophy and read financial tea leaves the way he does. Start with the man himself: Berkshire Hathaway's always witty and engaging annual reports are available online at the company's Web site,. To give you a head start, Wall $treet Week with FORTUNE co-anchor Karen Gibbs parsed the 2003 report in her column this week.
Buffett also writes individual pieces of his own, including articles for FORTUNE magazine on rare occasions. A few months ago he explained his recent currency bets against the U.S. dollar; FORTUNE's Andy Serwer went further and showed how individuals can make a play in the same direction.
If you don't have the time to do your own Buffett-style research, you can always try a mutual fund run by someone who shares the same value investing philosophy as Buffett. A year and a half ago, FORTUNE published a short list of Warren Wannabe fund managers with solid track records.
Finally, there are plenty of books you can try, though none are guaranteed to fully encompass the master's methods -- only Buffett knows that for sure, and he's not saying. Consider beginning with one of Buffett's favorites, The Intelligent Investor, written by his mentor, Benjamin Graham, the high priest of value investing. Afterwards you have many choices among volumes written about or by Buffett himself. The following books are among the top 10 sellers among Buffett-themed books on both Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com:
| Title |
Author |
| The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor |
Robert G. Hagstrom |
| How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett: Profiting from the Bargain Hunting Strategies of the World's Greatest Value Investor |
Timothy P. Vick |
| The New Buffettology: The Proven Techniques for Investing Successfully in Changing Markets That Have Made Warren Buffett the World's Most Famous Investor |
Mary Buffett |
| Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor |
Janet Lowe |
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