Wednesday 30 November 2011

Focus on reading annual reports. You’ll be richer for it.

100 Ways to Beat the Market #1: Focus on Annual Reports

HOW TO SPEND YOUR TIME

A few years ago, Warren Buffett was on the Fox Business Network discussing the sale of Berkshire’s shares of PetroChina. Fox anchor Liz Claman asked Buffett how he was able to come up with the idea to invest in PetroChina in the first place.

Buffett replied, “Other guys read Playboy, I read annual reports.“

A biography of value investor Peter Cundill was recently published entitled There’s Always Something to Do. Truer words have never been spoken. There always is something to do.

The question is are you doing the right things.

Buffett spends his time reading annual reports. Moreover, he isn’t reading willy-nilly. He’s reading with purpose. Buffett focuses on trying to figure out how much a business is worth.

In the case of PetroChina, in 2002 Buffett figured the whole company was worth about $100 billion. The entire business was selling in the market for about $37 billion. Buffett bought $488 million worth of shares which he sold in 2007 for $4 billion. Buffett earned a 700%+ return on a half a billion dollar investment in five years by sitting in his office and reading annual reports.

How do you spend your time? How many annual reports have you read in the past week?

Being a great investor requires brutal honesty. There’s always something to distract you and get you off your game. Being brutally honest about how you spend your time is the first step to spending it on what really matters.

Focus on reading annual reports. You’ll be richer for it.




Read more here:
http://www.investlah.com/forum/index.php/topic,27399.msg561946.html#msg561946


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