Patient Investor - BRK 2022 Annual Letter...

 Keys:

1. It’s crucial to understand that stocks often trade at truly foolish prices, both high and low.

2. Efficient markets exist only in textbooks, in truth, marketable stocks and bonds are baffling, their behavior usually understandable only in retrospect.

3. Berkshire used 7 years to purchase 400 million shares of Coca-Cola.

Charlie’s thoughts:

• The world is full of foolish gamblers, and they will not do as well as the patient investor.

• If you don’t see the world the way it is, it’s like judging something through a distorted lens.

• All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there. And a related thought: Early on, write your desired obituary – and then behave accordingly.

• If you don’t care whether you are rational or not, you won’t work on it. Then you will stay

irrational and get lousy results.

• Patience can be learned. Having a long attention span and the ability to concentrate on one thing for a long time is a huge advantage.

• You can learn a lot from dead people. Read of the deceased you admire and detest.

• Don’t bail away in a sinking boat if you can swim to one that is seaworthy.

• A great company keeps working after you are not; a mediocre company won’t do that.

• Warren and I don’t focus on the froth of the market. We seek out good long-term investments and stubbornly hold them for a long time.

• You have to keep learning if you want to become a great investor. When the world changes, you must change.

• Finally, I will add two short sentences by Charlie that have been his decision-clinchers for decades: “Warren, think more about it. You’re smart and I’m right.”