Warren Buffett Archives - Joshua Kennon

Thoughts on Berkshire Hathaway’s Intrinsic Value – 2015 Edition

Stocks, ValuationBy Joshua Kennon May 17, 2015 29 Comments

Surveying the most recent ten year period, the increase in Berkshire Hathaway’s economic engine has been breathtaking. The Great Recession of 2008-2009 gave it the opportunity to lay out billions upon billions of dollars in cash it had been storing for years prior at terms that were unlike any deals we’ve seen in decades. Convertible preferred stocks, warrants, private buyouts … the firm got its on hands highly lucrative securities, many of which were privately negotiated and offered return enhancers not available to average investors …

The Earliest Known Clip of Warren Buffett Unearthed

Value InvestingBy Joshua Kennon February 26, 2015 23 Comments

It is absolutely nuts to me to see this clip of Warren Buffett that was discovered. In it, he was just shy of 32 years old, roughly the same age I am now. He was completely unknown outside a tiny circle of people, though rich, wasn’t one of the richest men in the country (let alone…

Warren Buffett’s $12 Billion Disney Mistake

Case Studies & ProfilesBy Joshua Kennon June 6, 2014 46 Comments

I mentioned yesterday in the post about Japanese Gyoza that we had seen Maleficent twice this week in theaters. With time to reflect on the film, I keep coming back to the economic power of certain types of enterprises. It reminds me of a story from a speech Warren Buffett gave two decades ago to…

Berkshire Hathaway Board of Directors Approves Share Repurchase Plan

StocksBy Joshua Kennon September 28, 2011 Leave a comment

I’ve made no secret of the fact I’ve been a net purchaser of Berkshire Hathaway shares for the past year. The valuation seemed (and still seems) absurdly low relative to intrinsic value. Apparently, the Berkshire Hathaway Board of Directors and management agrees.1 The company is now looking at itself as the best use of the firm’s cash.

Men Unlikely to Marry Women with Large Debts

Credit Card Debt, Student LoansBy Joshua Kennon September 23, 2010 9 Comments

There was an article three weeks ago in The New York Times that began with the following paragraph: Nobody likes unpleasant surprises, but when Allison Brooke Eastman’s fiancé found out four months ago just how high her student loan debt was, he had a particularly strong reaction: he broke off the engagement within three days.…

Where Do Millionaires Invest Their Cash to Keep It Safe?

Banking, EconomicsBy Joshua Kennon August 26, 2010 43 Comments

Where Do Millionaires Invest Their Cash to Keep It Safe? I’ve been having a conversion about investing and money with the reader “Frat Man” in the comments section of another post. He asked: I also had one other question I have always wondered. Where do millionaires keep their money? In the sense that FDIC insurance…

The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class – A Lecture by Elizabeth Warren

Economics, Saving MoneyBy Joshua Kennon July 24, 2010 3 Comments

Want to know why the middle class is disappearing despite families now having two people in the work force instead of one? Here is Elizabeth Warren discussing in an hour-long lecture at Berkeley. She is the author of The Two Income Trap.

Our Value Investing Research Process for Stocks

My Businesses, Value InvestingBy Joshua Kennon March 8, 2010 Leave a comment

A week or two ago, I wrote an article called Understanding Stock Repurchase Plans for About.com, a division of The New York Times, which discussed Sonic Restaurant and the massive stock buy back program that had taken place over the past few years. In it, I walked the readers through a lot of the math and explained that I had purchased a couple hundred shares to watch and monitor the stock through one of my companies, Mount Olympus Awards, LLC. (I’ve since increased it to about 500 shares to continue watching and waiting to see how events unfold).

Margin of Safety – The Secret to Understanding the Value Investing Strategy

Value InvestingBy Joshua Kennon December 29, 2009 1 Comment

The single most important concept in all of investing, according to Benjamin Graham and later confirmed by his star student, Warren Buffett, comes down to three simple words: Margin of Safety. What is the margin of safety? How do you calculate it? How important is it to developing a successful value investing strategy? As you’ll see in a moment, the theory behind value investing is that the ultimate return you earn on your investments will be closely related to the size and quality of the margin of safety you build in to your purchasing decisions, whether you are buying shares of Coca-Cola or building a hotel.

Benjamin Graham Value Investing Strategy

Legendary Investors, Value InvestingBy Joshua Kennon December 16, 2009 1 Comment

In addition to penning several of the most important value investing books in history, Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, was one of the two partners in the Graham Newman Corporation, the investment fund through which he put money to work. It was at this firm that Warren Buffett worked early in his career, learning from the master. As he amassed an astounding investing record, Graham divided his portfolio into several categories, or “operations”. These served value investing students well for more than seventy years and some still have value today.

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