...P. MILES Warren Buffett’s 24-year-old wallet was recently purchased for $210,000 at a charity auction because it included a stock tip. But before Buffett sent his wallet to the winning bidder, he removed a significant and personal item that reveals 10 secrets to his extraordinary wealth-building success. A t a recent auction for a girl’s charity, Warren Buffett’s Wallet was won for a bid of $210,000 because it included a stock tip. Before he sent his 24-year-old wallet to the winning bidder, he removed a significant and personal item that reveals many secrets to his extraordinary wealth-building success. What was the item? I’ll tell you in a moment. First, let me take you back to 1969. At this time, Warren Buffett was in the process of liquidating his Buffett Partnership and focusing his time and energy on building the holding company that’s known today as Berkshire Hathaway. And one of the first businesses he purchased as a wholly owned subsidiary of his new conglomerate was the Illinois National Bank, which was, at the time, the largest bank in Rockford. One of the things that makes this purchase particularly interesting is that, viewed over time, the purchase and management of the bank provides an almost picture-perfect example of the ten investment and management principles that have made Buffett the world’s greatest investor. SECRET NUMBER 1: Invest in an old economy company that’s a leader in an industry you understand. Banking may not...
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...Warren Buffett Case Warren Buffett is the role model to all investors; therefore, I believe what he believed in is right (at least to him). However,we need to understand that not all of his rules work for everyone. Buffett's first rules is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule. He is absolutely right about this because risk management is always the key to success in investing. I think that valuing a share based on its relative performance to similar shares is a good strategy to make sure the return on your investment. The comparison of an investment against other returns available in the market was an important benchmark of performance is a good point. Moreover, Buffett also said that we should invest based on sound research and a detached emotional state and not to become an emotional slave to day to day price fluctuation. Buffett also has his points when he said that we should not believe in Efficient Market Theory because the market does have efficient sometimes doesn't mean the market always have its efficient. The intrinsic value is another point that inspired me because I agreed with him about we should focus on the firm's future output but not the historical input. However, I slightly disagree that accounting reality is useless. It is because we can't tell a firm's financial health by just looking at the economic reality. I also think that his heavy focus on economic reality relies too heavily on subjective evaluation of intangible assets and sometimes...
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...Warren Buffett is Born Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930 to his father Howard, a stockbroker-turned-Congressman. The only boy, he was the second of three children, and displayed an amazing aptitude for both money and business at a very early age. Acquaintances recount his uncanny ability to calculate columns of numbers off the top of his head - a feat Warren still amazes business colleagues with today. a fierce critic of the interventionist New Deal domestic and foreign policy, and his wife Leila (née Stahl). Buffett's DNA report revealed that his paternal ancestors hail from northern Scandinavia, while his maternal ancestors hail from Iberia (present-day Spain[15]) or Estonia.[16] It's been also reported that Warren is not related to Jimmy Buffett despite the same surname.[15] Buffett began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School in Omaha. In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Congress, and after moving with his family to Washington, D.C., Warren finished elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947, where his senior yearbook picture reads: "likes math; a future stockbroker" At only six years old, Buffett purchased 6-packs of Coca Cola from his grandfather's grocery store for twenty five cents and resold each of the bottles for a nickel, pocketing a five cent profit. While other children his age were playing hopscotch and jacks, Warren was making...
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...Buffett worked from 1951 to 1954 at Buffett-Falk & Co. as an investment salesman; from 1954 to 1956 at Graham-Newman Corp., as a securities analyst; from 1956 to 1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd. as a general partner and beginning in 1970 as Berkshire Hathaway Inc Chairman and CEO. By 1950, at 20, Buffett had made and saved $9,800 (over $96,000 inflation adjusted for the 2014 USD[22]).[23] In April 1952, Buffett discovered that Graham was on the board of GEICO insurance. Taking a train to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday, he knocked on the door of GEICO's headquarters until a janitor admitted him. There he met Lorimer Davidson, Geico's Vice President, and the two discussed the insurance business for hours. Davidson would eventually become Buffett's lifelong friend and a lasting influence,[24] and would later recall that he found Buffett to be an "extraordinary man" after only fifteen minutes. Buffett wanted to work on Wall Street, however, both his father and Ben Graham urged him not to. He offered to work for Graham for free, but Graham refused.[25] Buffett returned to Omaha and worked as a stockbroker while taking a Dale Carnegie public speaking course.[26] Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach an "Investment Principles" night class at University of Nebraska-Omaha. The average age of his students was more than twice his own. During this time he also purchased a Sinclair Texaco gas station as a side investment. However, this was not successful.[citation...
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...investment philosophy of purchasing undervalued assets. Over the past 40 years, Berkshire has increased shareholder value by an average of 21%, twice the average of the S&P 500 over the same period. Berkshire has a time tested set of rules for the best types of companies to acquire, namely to purchase businesses for less than they are worth. Berkshire must continue this strategy in order to increase shareholder wealth. Specifically, Buffett must use his investment philosophy that has made him so successful. He should continue to seek companies to invest or purchase that he understands and can purchase at a discount. The economic slowdown is an opportunity for Berkshire to find undervalued assets. Within the U.S. Buffett could look at the financial industry. He could also look at purchasing assets in a few years when the housing industry recovers. Given Buffett's investment philosophy, this would be an ideal time to purchase undervalued assets and hold them for a long time. Buffett should also be looking outside of the U.S. for investment opportunities. Brazil, India, Europe, and China are all opportunities. China's stock market is down significantly this year. This may be an excellent time for Buffett to search for bargains. Buffett should also look to other international areas for potential companies to purchase. 2. What is your assessment of Berkshire's performance in general and of the MidAmerican investment in particular? Strengths: Management/Strategy –...
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...In this world, it is almost impossible if people live without rule. Rules are made to stop anarchy and to provide order. People need to be accountable for their actions so rules are needed. However in reality, some people still do not follow the rules or even they don’t care about the rules at all. This action of breaking rules or laws is called crime. Nowadays, the reported cases of crime all over the world are alarmingly increasing. It is believed that the main reason behind this is the rise in population which will lead to unemployment. The crime can be reduced with the involvement of the government to the society. Firstly, I would like to state that the population of a country will be the first and foremost reason behind this increase in crime. Take Indonesia for instance, it is a developing country and in the prevailing scenario its population is sharply increasing, which creates a significant number of problems. With respects to that, unemployment is the major one, because of that, educated and sophisticated people survive without jobs and result in indulge in the crime to bear their expenses. To combat this grave problem, governments can arrange educational classes and programs to increase public awareness about the adverse effects of the increase in population. If the increase rate of population decrease, there will be less unemployment which will of course decrease the number of crimes. Eventually, after analyzing all the views, I would like to conclude that...
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...Harvard Business School 9-293-057 Rev. December 22, 1992 Salomon and the Treasury Securities Auction: 1992 Update In early July, the S.E.C. and the Justice Department issued a subpoena for Salomon's trading documents for the May 1991 2-year note auction. In response, Salomon asked Wachtell, Lipton, its outside counsel, to investigate the May auction. After several weeks, Wachtell, Lipton informed Salomon that they had found problems in four auctions dating back to December 1990. !" !" In the December 27, 1990 4-year note auction, Salomon submitted a $1 billion bid for "Warburg" without S.G. Warburg's knowledge. In the February 21, 1991 2-year note auction, Salomon fabricated bids for Warburg and Quantum Fund, another client. Salomon ended up with 57% of the notes after proration of its own bid and the two fake bids. In the April 25, 1991 5-year note auction, Salomon submitted a $2.5 billion bid on behalf of Tudor Jones, $1 billion more than the client's authorized bid. After the auction, Salomon purchased $600 million of the $2.1 billion in notes awarded to Tudor Jones. In the May 22, 1991 2-year note auction, Salomon ordered $2 billion in notes for Tiger Investment, $500 million more than Tiger's authorized bid. After the auction, Salomon purchased the $500 million in extra notes from Tiger. !" !" After hearing the outside counsel's report, Chairman John Gutfreund and President Tom Strauss telephoned the S.E.C., the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve Bank on August...
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...Course No: C-501 Course Name: Managerial Communication A Report on Business Communication Method of Warren Buffett Prepared For: Mr. Zahid Hassan Khan Associate professor, Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka Prepared By: Md.Tazul Islam Roll:133 Batch:46D Date of Submission: 11-12-2011 Executive Summary: Warren Buffett is considered as one of the most successful investors of the market. A man who started his journey as an investor at the age of 13, continued to cross hurdles of his business carrier. It's annual report season, which includes announcements from the CEO and/or chairman of every public U.S. company. Given that Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is the most successful investor of all time, you might expect that a 23-page communication from him would be jargon-packed and over most people’s heads. In actuality, Buffett's annual letter to shareholders is famously down-to-earth, conversational, and witty. Never mind for now the specific points he makes: how he communicates his message is a lesson for all of us. Warren Buffett writes his letter to shareholders as a letter to his sisters - then crosses out "Dear Doris and Bertie" and replaces it with "To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway". It’s not enough that Warren Buffett has become one of the richest men in the world. He’s also a world-class communicator – and nowhere does this gift go on public display more than in his annual letter to shareholders...
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...Warren Buffet When people think of one of the brightest minds of the investing world, there is one person that is on every persons mind. That person is the ‘Oracle Of Omaha’ or Warren Buffett. He is a man with dignity and respect that made him a self-made billionaire with working hard. One of his greatest quotes by Warren is “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” What Warren means by this is that you are going to have to pay a price for everything, but what you do with it is what you are going to get out of it. Going through his early days to where he is know he has gone through quite a journey that now puts Warren worth $66.7 billion (toolsforforex.com, 2013). People don’t just look up to Warren because he is one of the richest people in the World; he also has one of the kindest hearts with what he does with a lot of his riches. Warren has done many things in his life for people to be inspired by him starting with he has always worked for what he has in his life. In 2008 Warren was declared the richest person in the world. People don’t just looked up to him because of his money he has made alone. In 2006 Warren announced that he would donate 85% of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings when he dies. He has also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 from Barack Obama for helping some companies out during the financial crisis (The Famous People). Besides his career and philanthropy he is involved in, he also has a family. Warren was married to Susie Warren...
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... found the history of St. Francis to be interesting and inspiring. His resolve to glorify one master, God, was remarkable. The new order rules of St. Francis were concise and strict. His rules seem to be dependent on one another. Obedience to God was carried out in his daily work, consisting of prayer and worship, which are two more new order rules. Prayer was so important that St. Francis and his followers would bind themselves with rope while they slept so not to disturb others in prayer. I can’t imagine doing this or taking a vow of poverty. The rule of poverty is extreme to me. He wore rags and owned nothing. He underwent a severe change from that of a party person to one that follows such strict and extreme rules. He had a love for only God, which is shown in his chastity rule. He would not let himself or his followers be tempted by the opposite sex. All the rules put forth by St. Francis seem unimaginable to me. However, the sacrifices made by him caused others to take notice and listen. A positive aspect of the new order rules is no responsibility of possessions. Owning items itself is a responsibility. The rule of poverty would remove this responsibility allowing focus on worship and prayer. Today, we put too much value on material things. The new order rules value only God. Simplicity of daily life would be another positive aspect. No other obligations or thoughts except obedience, prayer, and worship...
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...Case Question 1 In his 2002 letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett referred to financial derivatives as the "financial weapons of mass destruction" and a ticking "time bomb" waiting to explode. His perspective may well be derived from his own experience with some derivative positions his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, inherited from the $22 billion purchase of General Reinsurance Corporation in 1998 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002). Unable to find an agreeable counterparty to buy the General Reinsurance Securities, a subsidiary of General Reinsurance Corporation that deals with derivatives, Buffett decided to close it which required him to unwind the subsidiary's derivative positions. The complexity of the derivatives positions took him years to complete the unwinding and at a pretax loss of $173 million for General Reinsurance Corp in 2002 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002) and $409 million in cumulative pretax loss as of 2008 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2009). He likens the unwinding process to entering hell, stating that derivatives positions were "easy to enter and almost impossible to get exit" (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2004). In 2002, trades in derivatives were growing rapidly in recent years and they pose a "mega-catastrophic risk" that could harm not only their sellers and buyers, but the whole economic system for the following reasons: 1. Mark-to-market accounting (Investopedia 2011) is a legal form of accounting for a venture involved in buying and selling securities...
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...Valuation Class 1: Introduction Lecturers • Peter VASSALLO – (Lecturer in Charge) – Office: Quad 3101 Tel: 9385 5840 – Email: p.vassallo@unsw.edu.au – Consultation Hour: Tue 2 – 4 pm Australian School of Business • Jeff COULTON – Office: Quad 3061 Tel: – Email: j.coulton@unsw.edu.au – Consultation Hour: Wed 3 – 5 pm 9385 5811 Focus of Acct5910 Australian School of Business Fundamental Analysis and Value 3 Success: Warren Buffett Australian School of Business Warren Buffett Australian School of Business • Born on August 30, 1930 • The richest person in the world 2008 with $62 billion, and the third richest in 2010 with 47 billion • Lives in the same house in the central Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500 and today, it is valued at around $700,000 • Largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway • Recent News: – Invested aggressively during the current crisis – Lost $25 billion in 2008-2009 – Called for more income tax for rich Americans (but not necessarily investment tax) Warren Buffett Australian School of Business • Newspaper delivery boy at age of 13 • First investment in pinball machine at age of 15 • Graduated from Columbia and worked as an security analyst for 2 years • Started an investment partnership with $100 at age of 26; 13 years later, he cashed out with $25 million • Controlled Berkshire Hathaway and transformed it into an investment vehicle – Net worth increased from $22 million to $69 billion in 40 years...
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...The rules proposed by Robert B . Reich are all important in making one an invaluable employee able to sustain the organizational success over a prolonged time period in the age when change is sudden and quick . The company has to be able to manage change and at the same time provide continuity to its actions , keep its identity in all the time of its existence . To achieve this , the management and employees have to meet the needs of today 's rapidly changing society For the company as a whole perhaps the ninth rule is the most important : Just do it ' Indeed , many companies are losing their share of the market because they prefer to stay where they are and enjoy what they have done in the past , rather than grasp the moment and make changes that will update their products and services . Thus , Sony Corporation is in many ways losing ground to its previously more modest competitors such as Samsung because they are more proactive and are able to seize the day and put innovative stuff in the market People are perhaps the most important factor of business because in the long run it is people that generate all the benefits . That is why the first and second rules are so useful in creating an efficient workforce I they give supervisors a chance to look at the familiar things from a new perspective . Sometimes it helps to have someone fresh to assess what has been going for years without change simply because no one gave it a thought . At the same time the legacy of the...
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...Warren E. Buffett, 1995 This case was prepared by Professor Robert F. Bruner as the basis for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. On August 25, 1995, Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, announced that his firm would acquire the 49.6 percent of GEICO Corporation that it did not already own. The $2.3 billion deal would give GEICO shareholders $70.00 per share, up from the $55.75 per share market price before the announcement. Observers were astonished at the 26 percent premium that Berkshire Hathaway would pay, particularly since Buffett proposed to change nothing about GEICO, and there were no apparent synergies in the combination of the two firms. At the announcement, Berkshire Hathaway’s shares closed up 2.4 percent for the day, for a gain in market value of $718 million.1 That day, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed up 0.5 percent. The acquisition of GEICO renewed public interest in its architect, Warren Buffett. In many ways he was an anomaly. One of the richest individuals in the world (with an estimated net worth of about $7 billion), he was also respected and even beloved. Though he had accumulated perhaps the best investment record in history (a compound annual increase in wealth of 28 percent from 1965 to 1994),2 Berkshire Hathaway paid him only $100,000 per year to serve as its CEO. Buffett and other insiders controlled 47.9 percent of the company, yet Buffett ran the company...
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...The Art of Love, written by Ovid, was a set of three books, the first being a guide or rule book on how to “pick-up” women and the second book a rule book on how to keep the woman you have or “caught” satisfied and interested in you. The third and final book that he wrote was written for women on what to do to catch and keep a man, since he felt it was only fair for women to also be “armed” when it comes to picking- up men. The rules that Ovid describes in The Art of Love are similar to the rules that most people follow in the “cruising and catching” game because they are effective and produce results, although not all the rules described in Ovid’s book are still used, a great majority of them are and have not changed after so many years. My overall perception for Ovid’s poem would be that of surprise. I would describe it as surprising because the “moves” that were implemented thousands of years ago are still very accurate and being used today. What Ovid’s poem tells me is that the “game” between men and women has not changed even though men and women have. Although most of the rules that Ovid writes about are now common sense in the dating world, such as choosing the best place to meet women just as fishermen know the best places to cast their nets to catch fish, and are followed by everyone. Ovid’s poem must have been written by experiences that he had and by the experiences that yielded the best results. In order for him to write a poem that describes what goes on today...
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