Rights Contact Login For More Details
- Wiley
More About This Title The Essays of Warren Buffett, 4th Edition: Lessons for Investors and Managers
English
Readers of Warren Buffett's letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders have gained an enormously valuable informal education in the art of investing. Broad in scope and long on wisdom, Buffett's letters explain his principles on sound investing, selecting managers, valuing businesses, using financial information profitably, and other vital topics for investors.
This newly updated Fourth Edition includes Buffett's latest wisdom on such topics as the financial crisis, the housing bubble, corporate governance, Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the role of oversight in heavily regulated industries, today's best investing opportunities, and the weaknesses of popular option valuation models.
Features investing advice in plain English from one of the world's most legendary investorsIncludes Buffett's insights on the current financial crisis and recessionOffers new and potent insight on good corporate governance and other issues vital to executives and managersFor investors, corporate executives, managers, and Buffett fans, The Essays of Warren Buffett, Fourth Edition features the kind of wisdom on investing, finance, and leadership that can be found nowhere else.
English
Lawrence A. Cunningham is a Professor at George Washington University, Washington, DC, and a leading authority on value investing. He originally prepared this collection as the centrepiece of a symposium featuring Buffett's letters, held when he was Director of The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance at Cardozo Law School, New York City. His numerous books include What Is Value Investing?, Outsmarting the Smart Money, and How to Think Like Benjamin Graham and Invest Like Warren Buffett.
English
Preface xiii
Prologue: Owner-Related Business Principles 1
Introduction 13
Corporate Governance 15
Finance and Investing 20
Investment Alternatives 26
Common Stock 28
Mergers and Acquisitions 31
Valuation and Accounting 33
Accounting Shenanigans 37
Accounting Policy 37
Tax Matters 38
I. Corporate Governance 39
A. Full and Fair Disclosure 40
B. Boards and Managers 43
C. The Anxieties of Business Change 56
D. Social Compacts 63
E. An Owner-Based Approach to Corporate Charity 65
F. A Principled Approach to Executive Pay 72
G. Risk, Reputation and Oversight 82
II. Finance and Investing 87
A. Mr. Market 88
B. Arbitrage 92
C. Debunking Standard Dogma 98
D. “Value” Investing: A Redundancy 110
E. Intelligent Investing 117
F. Cigar Butts and the Institutional Imperative 124
G. Life and Debt 128
III. Investment Alternatives 133
A. Surveying the Field 134
B. Junk Bonds 138
C. Zero-Coupon Bonds 145
D. Preferred Stock 152
E. Derivatives 162
F. Foreign Currencies and Equities 172
G. Home Ownership: Practice and Policy 179
IV. Common Stock 183
A. The Bane of Trading: Transaction Costs 184
B. Attracting the Right Sort of Investor 189
C. Dividend Policy and Share Repurchases 191
D. Stock Splits and Trading Activity 202
E. Shareholder Strategies 204
F. Berkshire’s Recapitalization 205
V. Mergers and Acquisitions 211
A. Bad Motives and High Prices 212
B. Sensible Share Repurchases Versus Greenmail 223
C. Leveraged Buyouts 223
D. Sound Acquisition Policies 226
E. On Selling One’s Business 230
F. The Buyer of Choice 234
VI. Valuation and Accounting 239
A. Aesop and Inefficient Bush Theory 240
B. Intrinsic Value, Book Value, and Market Price 243
C. Look-Through Earnings 249
D. Economic versus Accounting Goodwill 255
E. Owner Earnings and the Cash Flow Fallacy 264
F. Option Valuation 271
VII. Accounting Shenanigans 275
A. A Satire on Accounting Shenanigans 276
B. Standard Setting 284
C. Stock Options 285
D. “Restructuring” Charges 290
E. Pension Estimates 294
F. Realization Events 296
VIII. Accounting Policy 297
A. Mergers 297
B. Segment Data and Consolidation 299
C. Deferred Taxes 300
D. Retiree Benefits 303
IX. Tax Matters 305
A. Distribution of the Corporate Tax Burden 305
B. Taxation and Investment Philosophy 311
Epilogue 315
Concept Glossary 323
Disposition Summary 325
Index 327
