Product Description

"Simply the most important new stock book of the 1990s, to date. Buy it and read it." -Kenneth L. Fisher Forbes

The runaway bestseller-updated with new material included for the first time!

"The Warren Buffett Way outlines his career and presents examples of how his investment techniques and methods evolved and the important individuals in that process. It also details the key investment decisions that produced his unmatched record of performance." -from the Foreword by Peter S. Lynch Bestselling author, One Up on Wall Street and Beating the Street

". . . an extraordinarily useful account of the methods of an investor held by many to be the world's greatest." -The Wall Street Journal

"Robert Hagstrom presents an in-depth examination of Warren Buffett's strategies, and the 'how and why' behind his selection of each of the major securities that have contributed to his remarkable record of success. His 'homespun' wisdom and philosophy are also part of this comprehensive, interesting, and readable book." -John C. Bogle Chairman, The Vanguard Group

"It's first rate. Buffett gets a lot of attention for what he preaches, but nobody has described what he practices better than Hagstrom. Here is the lowdown on every major stock he ever bought and why he bought it. Fascinating. You could even try this at home." -John Rothchild Financial columnist Time magazine

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3493 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starting with $10,000 in 1956 and today worth some $8.5 billion, with significant holdings in Coca-Cola, Capital Cities/ ABC and the Washington Post Company, Omaha, Nebr.-based Buffet is a major player on Wall Street. Financial consultant Hagstrom, who did not interview his subject but obtained permission to quote from his Berkshire Hathaway annual reports, here outlines Buffet's iconoclastic tenets for investing. Unlike many entrepreneurs who take over companies to sell them off in bits, Buffet buys and holds. He rejects the "efficient market theory"; he doesn't worry about the stock market; and he buys a business, not a stock. He manages with a small staff, no computers and a "hands off" strategy. Learning his secrets here, now the rest of us can do a Buffet? Illustrations. Fortune Book Club dual main selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Hagstrom, a principal in a Philadelphia investment firm, describes the investment strategies and techniques used by Warren Buffett to realize enormous success as a professional investor. Aiming his analysis at the individual investor, Hagstrom reviews the influence of Buffett's mentors, Ben Graham and Philip Fisher, and illustrates Buffett's synthesis of their investment philosophies. Hagstrom provides case studies of Buffett's major investments, showing the qualities of the companies that had appeal. Buffett's investment philosophy espouses long-term investing, respect for good management, and recognition of the value of a business franchise. This insightful work is a worthwhile complement to Graham's classic writings, considered essential for new investors.
Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib., West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
The investment legend's personal story and investment methods make for a surprisingly captivating audio. Though Stefan Rudnicki's pacing is too slow, crisp writing and a fast-moving story line make this condensed production of Hagstrom's 1994 book captivating listening. The author is the preeminent Buffett expert, and it shows. Though the abridgment sacrifices some of the folksy texture and cultural context of Buffett's life, the strategies connected with Buffett's success are spelled out with elegant clarity--not just the business formulas, but the personal biases and management philosophies, as well. An essential investment audio, and a nice resource for all equity investors. T.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Amazed by good reviews of this book
I am continually amazed by the good reviews this book receives; so I finally felt compelled to write. There is nothing in this book that Warren Buffett hasn't already said in his annual letters. Robert Hagstrom revealed his true reason for writing this book when the first paperback edition came out and in it, in fine print, was a notice stating that Hagstrom had started an investment fund designed to invest using Warren Buffett's principles (read: way). That is, he wrote the book so you would learn his name, become confident in his ability to analyze investments like Buffett does, and invest in his fund (which has a hefty expense ratio and has performed quite poorly I understand). So he writes this page book, in which he recommends that if you ever have the chance to read Buffett's annual letters, you should, since they "read like a book on his investment philosophy". I took his suggestion, ordered the back annual letters (sold by Berkshire Hathaway for $15) and found they repeated everything in this book - sometimes word for word (now how could Buffett have known what Hagstrom was going to write?). I get the feeling that Hagstrom has never met Buffett and never discussed investing with him (unlike Lowenstein, Lowe, Train, etc.) and his only research for this book was Buffett's annual letters. I learned more about Buffett's style from Roger Lowenstein's biography. Take Robert Hagstrom's advice and purchase the annual letters; they say the same thing - except Buffett's sense of humor is better.

Once Again, Take It With A Grain of Salt
I am not Warren Edward Buffett. Unlike Mr. Buffett, who has the delightful headache of trying to figure out where to put his steadily growing billions, I am a non-investor, sitting on the sidelines, wondering what all the fuss is about. Like most readers of this book, I have been told incessantly to invest for retirement, and not knowing exactly how I should do so, I figured it might be a good idea to glean a few secrets from a proven successful investor. Hence, I read The Warren Buffett Way from cover to cover, hoping to learn a few things.

And what did I learn? I learned that I am not Warren Edward Buffett. Unlike Mr. Buffett, whose circle of associates includes all of the Beautiful People of Corporate America, I am surrounded by ordinary people, more than a few of whom are looking for a way to get rich quick. Whereas Mr. Buffett is patient and thoughtful with his investments, most of the people I encounter are thoughtless and reckless with their gambles. These two things, which I increasingly began to ponder as I read this book, distinguish me from the Oracle of Omaha, and quite possibly from most readers of this book.

The book consists of nine chapters, and is mostly historical in nature. It details many of Buffett's past exploits in the stock market, mostly the good moves but also some bad ones, and offers some of the principles guiding Mr. Buffett's stock investing strategy, grouped into three classes called Management, Financial and Market Tenets. The first four chapters of the book delve into the early history of Berkshire Hathaway, the key influences on Mr. Buffett which helped to shape his investment philosophy, Mr. Buffett's perspective on the financial markets, and the principles by which he goes about purchasing a business. The last five chapters of the book give example after example of some of Mr. Buffett's past stock moves, and tries to show his Tenets in action.

The style of the book is mostly active until the fifth chapter, whereupon it becomes plodding. The book is extremely repetitive at points, and as other reviewers have pointed out, key concepts are not fully explained up front, suggesting that the possible target audience for this book are those having a strong background in the general principles of economics and business.

In all honesty, I have previously encountered most of the content of this book in coursework or self-study. I previously read Mr. Hagstrom's The Warren Buffett Portfolio, and found the two books to be similar in some respects. That said, I still found this book to be very interesting and useful, primarily because it exposed me to an investment approach which utilizes these concepts in ways I had not previously considered. I also found it highly interesting on an anecdotal level, given that Mr. Buffett's investment career spans The Go-Go Years, The Nifty Fifty Stocks and the 80s and 90s Tech Stock Boom, and yet he never once participated in these tech-stock manias but handily outperformed tech stock investors nonetheless.

Like I said, I am not Warren Edward Buffett and I can not expect or even hope to do what he does, but that does not mean that I can not think like him. Even Mr. Buffett cautions the small investor in this regard, as there are things that he can do that none of little guys can do. Yet, he also has said that there are things the little guy can do that he can not do. That said, the book deserves to be read by any one lacking the ability to reason through the process of investing. However, readers at all levels should not stop with this book. Others have pointed out that one could get even more information straight from the horse's mouth- the Berkshire Hathaway website.

On the other hand, as this information details past moves for which the conditions surrounding them are most unlikely to come around again, I believe that the more astute reader looking to learn more should consult The Money Game by Adam Smith for a brief historical look at financial foolishness (albeit the late sixties but the resemblance to Right Now is striking), The Theory of Investment Value by John Burr Williams for Buffett's original basis for valuation, and The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham for a more detailed explanation of the concepts of margin of safety, intrinsic value, and the benefits associated with ignoring the market noise. These three books will help one learn how to reason through the investment problem, as this is the most important step, aside from finding smart people (as Mr. Smith admonishes forcefully in The Money Game and Buffett has consistently done) and thinking more but acting less (as Buffett has said- do a few things right and screw everything else).

Worth the read
Forget B-school, read this book. Seriously, a great introduction to value investing and the Buffett mentality of risk.

Hagstrom's analysis is very easy to read and understand... a book everyone should read.