Sterling Terrell

smart ideas from books

The Warren Buffett Investing Strategy

The Warren Buffett Investing Strategy

The Warren Buffett investing strategy is simple.

The crux behind it is this:

Buy great businesses at good prices.

Of course, there are more details to it the deeper you dig. But it’s nothing you couldn’t learn while getting an accounting/economics/finance degree.

I loved stumbling across the video below of Warren Buffett from Investor Center.

It is so telling is that Buffett is repeating the exact same things in interviews today.

And why wouldn’t he?

Good business principles should be timeless.

Good business principles are timeless.

You can learn the most from his letters to shareholders (Amazon)

My Warren Buffett Investing Strategy takeaways:

  • Don’t lose money.
  • Investment temperament > Investment IQ
  • You are not right or wrong because people agree with you – you are right or wrong based on facts and logic.
  • Don’t worry about what a stock does – invest in a business.
  • A short-term focus is not conducive to long-term profits.
  • Just focus on what businesses are worth.
  • You don’t have to always be buying and selling – sitting out is ok too.
  • Investors/managers don’t have to use data just because they have it – don’t overcomplicate it.
  • Tune out all the noise that surrounds the financial markets, focus on the fundamentals.
  • Find a place to live that lets you relax and keep the market noise to a minimum.

My $250,000 Mistake

My $250,000 Mistake

Good grief, can you imagine a mistake that costs you millions of dollars?

It would make me want to vomit, honestly.

Truth be told, I once keyed a trade wrong and cash sold someone’s cotton at the wrong price – to the tune of a $250,000 deficit.

When I caught my mistake me first reaction was to run to the bathroom and throw up.

Thankfully, people are often kind.

With one phone call, the trading company and buyer rescinded my order – even though they had no obligation to do so.

It still makes my skin crawl thinking about it…

At least McMurtry has a good attitude about his actual loss!

Sadly, I am unsure what friendships I have that would survive a $15 million screwup. Too few, honestly.

In my case, particularly, his carelessness cost me millions. Though he always claimed to be a lawyer, in fact law bored him. Thus when Quintex, the multinational that initially set up the Lonesome Dove deal, went bankrupt, Irving did not bother to follow the proceedings, costing me millions in royalties. And the money stream that is Lonesome Dove is still flowing now. I figure Irving Lazar cost me at least $15 million, a sum that would always be useful. But I loved him anyway and so did many others.

-Larry McMurtry, Hollywood (Amazon)

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