But our chance of finding a business that can sustain profits is still as good as flipping a coin. There are three reasons why: Only a few businesses have a moat. Most don’t. It can be hard to tell a business with a real moat from one that is at the peak of its business cycle. A moat is no guarantee of high profits. Coke’s brand allows it to sell its cola for more than other colas. But if tastes change to other sodas, or water, Coke’s profits will fall. Moats don’t last forever. Newspapers used to have a moat. If you wanted to advertise in a city, you advertised in the local paper. There was
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