false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172174032m/145565.jpg 145565 1 Buffett, the Bard of Omaha, is a genuine American folk hero, if folk heroes are allowed to build fortunes worth upward of $15 billion. He's great at homespun metaphor, but behind those catchy phrases is a reservoir of financial acumen that's generally considered the best of his generation. For example, in an essay on CEO stock options, he writes, "Negotiating with one's self seldom produces a barroom brawl." This is his way of saying that an executive who can give himself compensation totally disproportionate to his performance surely will. There are uncountable gems of financial wisdom to be harvested from these essays, taken from the annual reports he writes for Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company. Just to pick one more, here's a now-famous line about those he competes with when making stock-market investments: "What could be more advantageous in an intellectual contest--whether it be chess, bridge, or stock selection--than to have opponents who have been taught that thinking is a waste of energy?"<p> While Buffett has a policy of seldom commenting on stocks he owns--he feels public pronouncements will only lead to the public's expectation of more public pronouncements, and he likes to keep his cards close to his vest--he loves to discuss the principles behind his investments. These come primarily from Ben Graham, under whom Buffett studied at Columbia University and for whom he worked in the 1950s. First among them is the idea that price is what you pay and value is what you get--and if you're a smart investor, the first will always be less than the second. In that sense, the value of the lessons learned from Buffett's <I>Essays</I> could be far greater than the book's price. <I>--Lou Schuler</I> 140464 11 4 2001 The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America total:74|5:50|4:17|3:5|2:2|1:0| 74 337 168 7 4 0 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Sep 21 07:44:42 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 20:21:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jan 09 07:15:10 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 07:15:40 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Aug 03 12:20:22 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 12:20:34 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 08:10:36 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 21 06:33:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 20 12:11:59 -0700 2008 Thu May 21 14:19:00 -0700 2009
]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 20 06:36:43 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 20 06:43:27 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Thu May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 10:22:21 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 09:05:19 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Nov 23 20:53:43 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 20:53:43 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 09 00:08:42 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 00:08:42 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Oct 28 20:16:14 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 20:16:14 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 25 02:29:03 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 02:29:03 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 16:21:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 16:21:00 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 13:35:44 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 13:35:44 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 21 16:17:07 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 16:17:07 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 19 05:43:12 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 05:43:12 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Oct 15 22:33:21 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 22:33:21 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Oct 08 07:26:54 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 07:26:54 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 07 08:55:45 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 08:55:45 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 05 16:50:13 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 17 08:40:38 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 27 10:30:56 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 10:30:56 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=145565