Featured entries from our Journal

Details Are Part of Our Difference

Embracing the Evidence at Anheuser-Busch – Mid 1980s

529 Best Practices

David Booth on How to Choose an Advisor

The One Minute Audio Clip You Need to Hear

Tag: Warren Buffett

The Oracle of Omaha Strikes Again

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© Can Stock Photo / kbuntu

Given how fleeting a financial super-star’s fame tends to be, there’s something comforting about Warren Buffett’s staying power as the “Oracle of Omaha.” (Omaha is Buffett’s hometown and headquarters for his global holding company Berkshire Hathaway.) The straightforward wisdom he’s been sharing for more than 50 years in his annual shareholder letters helps explain the perennial appeal.

I’ve long admired his position on how to invest sensibly over the long haul. After all, he’s the guy who first said (in 1988), “our favorite holding period is forever.” But his insights on human character are always among my favorites, such as these new gems from his recently released 2016 letter.

  • “1,000 monkeys would be just as likely to produce a seemingly all-wise prophet. But there would remain a difference: The lucky monkey would not find people standing in line to invest with him.”
  • “Ever-present naysayers may prosper by marketing their gloomy forecasts. But heaven help them if they act on the nonsense they peddle.”
  • “As Charlie [Munger] says, it’s great to have a manager with a 160 IQ – unless he thinks it’s 180.”
  • “[B]ad behavior is contagious: CEOs who overtly look for ways to report high numbers tend to foster a culture in which subordinates strive to be ‘helpful’ as well.”
  • “This year the magic potion may be hedge funds, next year something else. The likely result from this parade of promises is predicted in an adage: ‘When a person with money meets a person with experience, the one with experience ends up with the money and the one with money leaves with experience.'”

PS: If you haven’t caught the HBO Special, “Becoming Warren Buffett,” I recommend that too. You have to love an 86-year-old billionaire who still drives by the McDonald’s take-out window on his way to work each morning to “splurge” on an Egg McMuffin®. (Here’s the promo for it​. To watch it in full, you’ll need to be an HBO subscriber.)

Billion Dollar Bracket

Ryan Soderlin/The World-Herald

How’s your billion dollar bracket doing?

You’ve likely heard about Warren Buffett’s recent NCAA basketball tournament challenge: build the perfect NCAA bracket and you could win $1 billion. Some may think Warren is crazy, but he knows that the odds of picking the perfect bracket are similar to that of picking the next great stock or fund manger—not good.

While it might be fun to wager $20 and watch the games, managing your money is far from a game. Just as Warren used the evidence to make this safe bet (there are 9.2 quintillion different potential bracket combinations), we also use the evidence to keep the odds on your side when investing.

What’s the latest on the challenge? It was over after the second day of play. Read more about the results here.

Why Some Investors Don’t Get It – Even After Seeing The Evidence

Our good friend and acclaimed author, Larry Swedroe, stopped by our offices recently and we sat down to tape a few of Larry’s most interesting thoughts. Larry is considered to be one of the most influential writers in the world of intelligent investing. His sixth and most recent book, Wise Investing Made Simple, has been a huge hit with investors. In this brief video message, find out what Larry thinks about why some people still invest with the high costs and lackluster results of active management.

Featured entries from our Journal

Details Are Part of Our Difference

Embracing the Evidence at Anheuser-Busch – Mid 1980s

529 Best Practices

David Booth on How to Choose an Advisor

The One Minute Audio Clip You Need to Hear

Hill Investment Group