The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio: Warren Buffett Stock Picks: Why and When He Is Investing in Them
By Mary Buffett and David Clark
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About this ebook
Warren Buffett has always believed that the time to buy stocks is when nobody else wants them. Even some of the most amazing businesses—those with a durable competitive advantage—are trading at prices and price-to-earnings ratios that offer investors serious long-term moneymaking opportunities. Pessimism about the banking situation in Europe and unemployment in America have created the perfect storm to bring stock prices down and present value-oriented investors some great possibilities.
In Warren Buffett’s world, as stock prices decrease, the prospects for investment increase. Putting a number on those prospects tells Warren whether or not the stock is an attractive buy. The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio explains how to do just that—how to value companies and conservatively estimate the kind of future return that an investment is offering at its current market price. Mary Buffett and David Clark look at stocks in Warren’s portfolio as the basis for their analysis.
After a brief history of Warren’s investment strategy, Buffett and Clark explain how to interpret a company’s per-share earnings and per-share book-value histories to quickly identify which companies have a durable competitive advantage and to project the compounding annual rate of return that an investment offers. The authors provide case studies and evaluations of seventeen companies in Warren Buffett’s portfolio.
The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio is a valuable companion to the other books in Buffett and Clark’s successful series—Buffettology, The Buffettology Workbook, The New Buffettology, The Tao of Warren Buffett, Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements, Warren Buffett’s Management Secrets, and Warren Buffett and the Art of Stock Arbitrage
Mary Buffett
Mary Buffett is the coauthor of Scribner’s bestselling Buffettology series, and a contributor to HuffPost and the online magazine Thrive Global. Mary’s online school—BuffettOnlineSchool.com—provides monthly investment insights and helps students learn to build successful stock portfolios.
Read more from Mary Buffett
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Reviews for The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio
27 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is excellent. A mission statement can be developed after the reading.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Author has done a great job in explaining rationale behind Warren Buffett's stock picks in simple language with step by step procedure. Really insightful and worth reading for enhancing one's investing skill
Book preview
The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio - Mary Buffett
Bestselling authors Mary Buffett and David Clark examine seventeen companies that Warren Buffett has bought for himself and for his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, as durable investments and explain why these companies are once again selling at prices that offer great long-term growth prospects.
WARREN BUFFETT has always believed that the time to buy stocks is when nobody else wants them. As we enter the fifth year of what many economists are calling the Great Recession, we find that some of the most amazing businesses—those with a durable competitive advantage—are trading at prices and price-to-earnings ratios that offer investors serious long-term moneymaking opportunities. Pessimism about the banking situation in Europe and unemployment in America have created the perfect storm to bring stock prices down and present value-oriented investors some great possibilities.
In Warren Buffett’s world, as stock prices decrease, the prospects for investment increase. Putting a number on those prospects tells Warren whether or not the stock is an attractive buy. The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio explains how to do just that—how to value companies and conservatively estimate the kind of future return that an investment is offering at its current market price. Mary Buffett and David Clark look at stocks in Warren’s portfolio as the basis for their analysis.
After a brief history of Warren’s investment strategy, Buffett and Clark explain how to interpret a company’s per share earnings and per share book value histories to quickly identify which companies have a durable competitive advantage and to project the compounding annual rate of return that an investment offers. The authors provide case studies and evaluations of seventeen companies in Warren Buffett’s portfolio.
The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio is a valuable companion to the other books in Buffett and Clark’s successful series—Buffettology, The Buffettology Workbook, The New Buffettology, The Tao of Warren Buffett, Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements, Warren Buffett’s Management Secrets, and Warren Buffett and the Art of Stock Arbitrage.
MARY BUFFETT is an international bestselling author and speaker on the investment methods of Warren Buffett. She gained her unique insight while married to Warren’s son Peter for twelve years. She is gifted in her ability to make the complex world of investments easy to understand and regularly lectures on the subject to audiences from California to New York to London to Beijing.
DAVID CLARK holds degrees in both finance and law, and in the late seventies was the founding member of the original Buffettologists—a small group of early Berkshire shareholders who studied the investment methods of Warren Buffett. He is now recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject and has written extensively on it. He lives in Warren Buffett’s hometown, Omaha, Nebraska, and is the managing director of a private partnership that invests primarily in arbitrage situations.
Together they have written eight books on Warren Buffett’s investment methods, four of them bestsellers in America and abroad.
The authors’ emails are: Marybuffettology@gmail.com and Davidbuffettology@gmail.com.
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JACKET PHOTOGRAPH © RAINER HOSCH/CORBIS OUTLINE
COPYRIGHT © 2011 SIMON & SCHUSTER
BUFFETTOLOGISTS
MARY BUFFETT AND DAVID CLARK
EXPLAIN THE METHODS WARREN BUFFETT
USES TO DETERMINE IF THESE STOCKS
OFFER GOOD OPPORTUNITIES FOR
LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS:
ALSO BY MARY BUFFETT AND DAVID CLARK
Buffettology
Buffettology Workbook
The New Buffettology
The Tao of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements
Warren Buffett’s Management Secrets
Warren Buffett and the Art of Stock Arbitrage
SCRIBNER
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Copyright © 2011 by Mary Buffett and David Clark
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230
Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Scribner hardcover edition December 2011
SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.
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1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
ISBN 978-1-4516-0648-5
ISBN 978-1-4516-0662-1 (ebook)
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its authors. It is not a recommendation to purchase or sell any of the securities of any of the companies mentioned or discussed herein SINCE SUCH DECISIONS INVOLVE RISKS INHERENT IN INVESTING. It is sold with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, investment, or other professional OR FINANCIAL advice or services. Laws vary from state to state and federal laws may apply to a particular transaction, and if the reader requires expert financial or other assistance or legal advice, a competent professional should be consulted. Neither the authors nor the publisher can guarantee the accuracy of the information contained herein. The authors and publishers specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
For Miranda
And for Hunter
CONTENTS
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: The History and Evolution of Warren Buffett’s Investment Strategy
CHAPTER 2: Warren Likes His Companies Old
CHAPTER 3: Consistency in Earnings
CHAPTER 4: The Warren Buffett Equity Bond
CHAPTER 5: Projecting an Investment’s Future Return
CHAPTER 6: Using Per Share Book Value History to Help Identify a Company with a Consumer Monopoly
THE CASE STUDIES AND VALUATIONS
CHAPTER 7: American Express Company
CHAPTER 8: The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon)
CHAPTER 9: Coca-Cola Company
CHAPTER 10: ConocoPhillips
CHAPTER 11: Costco Wholesale Corporation
CHAPTER 12: GlaxoSmithKline
CHAPTER 13: Johnson & Johnson
CHAPTER 14: Kraft Foods, Inc.
CHAPTER 15: Moody’s Corporation
CHAPTER 16: Procter & Gamble Company
CHAPTER 17: Sanofi S.A.
CHAPTER 18: Torchmark Corporation
CHAPTER 19: Union Pacific Corporation
CHAPTER 20: U.S. Bancorp
CHAPTER 21: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
CHAPTER 22: Washington Post Company
CHAPTER 23: Wells Fargo & Company
CHAPTER 24: Munger, Combs, and Weschler
In Closing
Index
INTRODUCTION
In these very turbulent times we think it is best to start with a quote from Warren Buffett during the 1990–1991 recession:
Nevertheless, fears of a California real estate disaster similar to that experienced in New England caused the price of Wells Fargo stock to fall almost 50% within a few months during 1990. Even though we had bought some shares at the prices prevailing before the fall, we welcomed the decline because it allowed us to pick up many more shares at the new panic prices.
Investors who expect to be ongoing buyers of investments throughout their lifetimes should adopt a similar attitude toward market fluctuations; instead many illogically become euphoric when stock prices rise and unhappy when they fall.
Warren has always maintained that the time to buy stocks is when nobody else wants them. In the recession of 2008–2009 we had that opportunity, and for those of us who did venture into that abyss, the rewards were tremendous. As we look toward the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, we are once again seeing stock prices at price-to-earnings-ratios that we haven’t seen since the early eighties. Coca-Cola is trading at 16 times earnings; in 1999 it was trading at 47 times earnings. The powerhouse Wal-Mart is trading at a P/E of 12; in 2001 it was trading at a P/E of 38. Procter & Gamble is selling at a P/E of 16; in 2000 it was trading at a of P/E 29. What does this mean?
As we enter the fifth year of what many economists are calling the Great Recession, we are finding that some of the most amazing businesses—those with fantastic long-term economics working in their favor—are trading at prices and price-to-earnings ratios that offer investors real opportunities for increasing their wealth. We aren’t talking about opportunities for quick profit. We are talking about serious long-term moneymaking with ten-year compounding annual rates of return conservatively in the 8%–12% range. That is what the market is now offering us. Pessimism about the banking situation in Europe and the unemployment in the United States have created the perfect storm to bring stock prices down and offer value-oriented investors some great opportunities.
In our book Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements we focused on examining a company’s financial statements to discover whether or not it has what Warren calls a durable competitive advantage,
which shows us if a company has great long-term economics working in its favor. In this book, we are looking only at companies that Warren has already identified as having a durable competitive advantage. These are the companies that he has bought for himself and for his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, as long-term investments. Because of the recession, these companies are once again selling at prices that offer great long-term growth prospects.
Our primary concern is with teaching you how to value companies so you can create a conservative projection as to the kind of future return that an investment offers at its current market price. In Warren’s world, as stock prices decrease, the prospects for the investment increase. Putting a number on those prospects tells us whether or not the stock is an attractive buy.
We start with a brief history of Warren’s investment strategy and then explain how to interpret a company’s per share earnings and per share book value histories. This allows us to quickly identify a company with a durable competitive advantage and to project the compounding annual rate of return the investment offers. We then look closely at seventeen investments in Warren’s current stock portfolio, working up a case study and valuation for each company. We also take a quick look at the investments made by Berkshire’s other three investment managers.
Historically, we have reason to believe that our projections ten years out are accurate under normal business conditions. Throughout this book, we have kept the projections conservative.
When you are done with this book you should be able to quickly determine whether a company has a durable competitive advantage and whether or not the company’s stock is attractively priced.
Presently there are four people at Berkshire Hathaway who are picking stocks
for Berkshire’s portfolio. On top is Warren Buffett, who makes 99% of the investment decisions for Berkshire. Then there is Charlie Munger, who often discusses investments with Warren and whose enthusiasm has put Berkshire into a few out-of-the-box investments. There are also newcomers Todd Combs, whom Warren hired in 2010 to help him pick stocks for Berkshire, and Ted Weschler, who will officially join Berkshire in early 2012 as a portfolio manager. The major portion of this book is concerned only with the companies that Warren Buffett has invested in personally and/or made the decision for Berkshire to invest in. At the end of the book, for those who are curious, we take a brief look at Charlie Munger’s, Todd Combs’s, and Ted Weschler’s respective investment styles and the contributions they have made to Berkshire’s portfolio.
So, without any more delay, let’s begin our exploration into Warren Buffett’s Stock Portfolio.
MARY BUFFETT & DAVID CLARK
CHAPTER 1
The History and Evolution of Warren Buffett’s Investment Strategy
Understanding Warren Buffett’s investment genius is not that difficult. However, it is often counterintuitive to the investment theories and strategies that 99% of most investors follow. What is