On Two Very Different Links
I have two suggested links for you today – one serious, the other a bit more whimsical:
Commentary on Buffett’s Partnership Letters
Birinyi Associates Ultimate Stock Selector
Buffett’s Partnership Letters
The more serious of the two links comes courtesy of ValueBlogger.com, a value investing blog. Recently, ValueBlogger presented a three-part commentary on Warren Buffett’s Partnership Letters.
From 1957-1969, Buffett ran an investment partnership. His letters to the partners from 1959-1969 are available online (in PDF).
I have mixed feelings about mentioning this, because the letters were originally private communications. There was (and to some extent still is) an intimacy to the general partner / limited partner relationship that can not be duplicated in the manager / shareholder relationship at any public corporation (including Berkshire.) However, I’m willing to put this privacy concern aside, because these are undeniably extraordinary documents.
Buffett’s partnership letters are to the student of investing what the private correspondence of an American President is to the student of history. They are a primary source illuminating a period in Buffett’s career that hasn’t been adequately explored by those who have written about the man.
The constraints under which Buffett operated during the partnership years were quite different from the constraints under which he operates today. His approach has clearly changed. Some of that change is attributable to his differing circumstances; the rest is attributable to a change of perspective born from a half century of self-analysis.
Anyone with a serious interest in investing should at least read a commentary on the letters, such as the one prepared by ValueBlogger.com. Of course, such a commentary is not an adequate substitute for reading the actual letters; however, I am aware of the fact that most people today are not accustomed to reading such documents and engaging in a first-hand investigation of sorts. Therefore, I am sure some of you will prefer to simply read a commentary that reduces the letters into a more easily digestible form.
ValueBlogger.com provides just such a commentary – and does it quite well.
Throwing Darts
The more whimsical link comes courtesy of Ticker Sense, one of the blogs included in 24/7 Wall Street’s list of The Twenty Best Financial Blogs.
It’s a dartboard. With tongue firmly in cheek, Ticker Sense writes:
We are pleased today to unveil one of the great, long-awaited products in the history of Birinyi Associates. Representing years of toil by our Research & Development arm, the “Birinyi Associates Ultimate Stock Selector” is the culmination of all of mankind’s collective study and analysis of the stock market and the science of stock-picking. By condensing decades of data and lifetimes of research into an over-riding method for predicting the market’s path, the new Selector is your one-stop reference for investment decisions that is designed to create the ultimate portfolio suitable for any scenario.
I don’t have much to say about this link. I like the “Ultimate Stock Selector” dartboard. I thought some of you might like it too – so, I’m mentioning it. It’s really that simple.
Walls need to be covered. There are enough nondescript pictures in this world as it is; so, why not a dartboard?
Read Commentary on Buffett’s Partnership Letters
Learn More About Birinyi Associates Ultimate Stock Selector
The Twenty Best Financial Blogs