Buffettology: The Previously Unexplained Techniques That Have Made Warren Buffett The World's Most Famous Investor | 
 enlarge | Author: Mary Buffett; David Clark
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy Used: $2.00
You Save: $28.00 (93%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  99 reviews
Sales Rank: 194729
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0684837137
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.6
EAN: 9780684837130
ASIN: 0684837137
Publication Date: November 13, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Americans are infatuated with the stock market. The number of households that own stock has increased from around 20 percent in the early 1980s to over 40 percent today. The market offers the hope of quick wealth and early retirement, and just about everyone who is in the market is looking for an edge, from sources such as CNBC and Wall Street Week to the Beardstown Ladies and "The Motley Fool." So it should be no surprise the most successful investor of our time--Warren Buffett--has been the subject of dozens of books and magazine articles. The value of Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, has increased from $18 per share in 1965 to over $70,000 per share today. The interest in Buffett has spawned an approach to investing called "Buffettology," which is the subject of a book by the same name written by Buffett's former daughter-in-law, Mary Buffett. In Buffettology, Mary Buffett, with the help of David Clark, details Warren Buffett's approach to investing. It's a style of investing based on the work of Benjamin Graham and one that requires a quality that most investors lack--discipline. Mary Buffett writes, "As you read through this book you will come to see that having a business perspective on investing is more about discipline than philosophy.... In short, other people's follies, brought on by fear and greed, will offer you, the investor, the opportunity to take advantage of their mistakes and benefit from the discipline of committing capital to investment only when it makes sense from a business perspective.... You will find that almost everything that relates to business perspective investing is alien to Wall Street folklore. Buffettology examines Buffett's methods for valuing companies and selecting stocks--it even encourages you to buy a calculator and work through the valuation formulas that Buffett uses when researching companies to buy. The book not only serves as a useful guide to understanding how Buffett invests, it's an excellent primer to investing in stocks, whether you plan to become a Buffettologist or not. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards, Business editor
Product Description
Buffettology is the first book from someone who, thanks to personal and professional access to Warren Buffett, has been uniquely positioned to learn from the master. Mary Buffett had the privilege -- during her twelve years as his daughter-in-law -- of sharing some of this very private genius's informal discussions of his investing philosophy, and now she shares some of her invaluable observations with us. This breakthrough book offers a full-blown explanation of how Buffett uses Business Perspective Investing as a wealth-building tool. His strategy is not so much to "pick stock" but to search for and invest in excellent companies whose intrinsic value and potential earnings he can reasonably predict through a series of steps we learn about throughout the book. Citing many fascinating case histories and examples, Buffettology shows us what kinds of companies Buffett looks for and why, and which he avoids and why. The authors show us the mathematical models and equations Buffett uses to determine the basic value and earnings potential of his final choices (and the right price to pay, for which he is willing to wait). We also learn how with the aid of an inexpensive, widely available handheld calculator, anyone can do similar equations. In addition to providing such in-depth analysis, this book offers two more firsts. One is a chapter on Buffett's rarely discussed and extremely successful arbitrage operations. The book gives us the arbitrage equation he uses to determine the positions he should take. The other is a comprehensive list and brief analysis of fifty-four companies in which Buffett has invested and the authors believe he continues to follow, many of which have never before been publicly identified as "Buffett companies."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 94 more reviews...
lots to learn April 6, 2008
This book was very good - especially the first half, before it gets heavily into the math equations. It was right about at my limits of understanding, (as a math-minded, but a relatively inexperienced investor) and I appreciated the numerous examples. The author had a rough task in making the book readable for folks like me as well as MBAs and more experienced investors. I thought she did a decent job, but did leave off some definitions of terms from balance sheets and cash flow statements.
I found a math error in the first part of the math section, and gave up from there, but the earlier parts of the book still made it very much a worthwhile read.
Sound and Actionable March 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Many books have been written about Warren Buffet's way of picking the right stocks at the right time, but this one is the most sound, concise and actionable. There is another book similar to this one: "The Warren Buffet Way" by Robert G. Hagstrom, but it misses the important topics laid out in the "Buffettology". These major topics are: what are the differences between a "consumer monopoly" and a "commodity"; how to calculate the rate of return over a long period of time before choosing the investment; and so on. There is another great book about Warren Buffet and his investment strategy - "Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist" by Roger Lowenstein, but it better describes Mr. Buffet's biography and his relations with family, friends and the society, rather than how did he evaluate the companies. But please note that "Buffettology" is not a replacement of the book by Roger Lowenstein, I highly recommend reading both of them. What is you can omit is the book by Robert G. Hagstrom, above mentioned.
I would recommend an abridged audio version of the "Buffettology" instead of the printed hardcover. The audio version discloses the most important factors of Mr. Buffet's investment principles pretty well. Some of the background information is available on free letters to shareholders and Mr. Buffet's lectures, but you might not want to crawl thought all these; you might want to save time and just listen the "Buffettology" audio or read the "Buffettology" book, where all this information is perfectly summarized and laid out in a consistent way.
Get an abridged audio instead of this paperback March 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Many books have been written about Warren Buffet's way of picking the right stocks at the right time, but this one is the most sound, concise and actionable. There is another book similar to this one: "The Warren Buffet Way" by Robert G. Hagstrom, but it misses the important topics laid out in the "Buffetology". These major topics are: what are the differences between a "consumer monopoly" and a "commodity"; how to calculate the rate of return over a long period of time before choosing the investment; and so on. There is another great book about Warren Buffet and his investment strategy - "Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist" by Roger Lowenstein, but it better describes Mr. Buffet's biography and his relations with family, friends and the society, rather than how did he evaluate the companies. But please note that "Buffetology" is not a replacement of the book by Roger Lowenstein, I highly recommend reading both of them. What is you can omit is the book by Robert G. Hagstrom, above mentioned.
I would recommend an abridged audio version of the "Buffetology" instead of the printed book. The audio version discloses the most important factors of Mr. Buffet's investment principles pretty well. Some of the background information is available on free letters to shareholders and Mr. Buffet's lectures, but you might not want to crawl thought all these; you might want to save time and just listen the "Buffetology" audio or read the "Buffetology" book, where all this information is perfectly summarized and laid out in a consistent way.
 Time-tested, Tried and True! February 9, 2008
BOTTOM LINE:
INVESTMENTS - It's all about the basics!
This is my personal investment bible. First read it back in 1999; still refer back to it when pondering my next investment move. Mary goes DEEP into the mind of Warren and shares all of his secrets. She even bothers doing the math for us. I have found that the worksheets still 'work', even with today's constantly-changing internet market.
A+
I was expecting to hate this book... I didn't. January 13, 2008
Let me start off by saying that I agree with those who note that this books marketing strategy- relying heavily on the "Mary Buffett" name- is most certainlly a bit misleading. Pretty safe to say that Mary Buffett isn't much of an expert on her former father-in-law and if one were to completely remove her name from this book, it quite likely wouldn't sell as many copies as it has. I assumed this from the outset and after completing the book, I soon realized that my assumptions were correct. I seriously doubt that Mary Buffett wrote a single word of this book and even if she had, I think her last name overvalues her actual understanding of what WB is all about.
With that said, objectively considering "Buffettology" as being nothing more than a book that proffers a simplified value investing strategy similar to the one practiced by WB's (in a broad sort of way) this book is surprisingly good indeed. Buffettology outlines a (very) basic framework for Buffetts philosophy of investing, which is an interesting amalgam of Ben Graham (pure value), Phil Fischer (pure upside considerations) and uniquely Warren Buffett (the ability to pick the winners at the right times). It also provides just enough technical information- particularly on calculations- to be extremely useful to the beginner or the layperson.
All in all, I would highly, highly recommend this book to beginners who are still developing their sea-legs in the investing world and are trying to figure out exactly what kind of investor they really are. Also, for advanced investors who themselves are more the market-timer types but find themselves interested in gaining a very basic comprehension of what value investing is all about, this book would be a superb starting point.
I think Buffettology occupies a pretty good place in the realm of beginners investing literature. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to most anyone.
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