Yippee! It’s Warren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders Time!

By , Saturday, 28 February 2009, 4 Comments

Every year around the world, men and women throughout the business, political, academic and other communities wait for this moment.  Then, finally it comes – and for decades it never disappoints.

 

It’s time for Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter to the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway !  Yippee!!

 

For those of you who read me, you know that I’m one of the impossibly large number of Buffett groupies.  These letters are a clear demonstration of why that is so easy.  From the beginning, Buffett decided that the annual Letters would be as educational as they are informational.  Not only do they read like a dream, they are the best executive guidance out there.

Granted, your business may not have the size and scope of Berkshire Hathaway (yet), but it is your direction of travel – because every business wants and needs to thrive and grow.  Especially in an economic era like this.

 

From the good news to the bad, whether touching on your industry or sector or not, always giving kudos to whom they are due and taking it on the chin when he’s made a mistake, there is no better person to help you navigate the business management, global and financial thinking required than Buffett.

I know, because that’s what he has always done for me.

Enjoy the read!
 

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  • http://www.landscapejuice.com Philip Voice

    Have you ever stopped to consider that this time, it might just be different?

    “Warren Buffett conceded that his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, turned in its worst performance on record as the financial crisis drew the world’s economy into a deepening recession, and gave investors little reason to believe a turnround was imminent.”

    “Net income plunged 96 per cent in the fourth quarter, to $117m, or $76 a share, its fifth straight decline from the year earlier.”

    “Berkshire’s class A shares tumbled 32 per cent last year. Its per-share book value, or total assets minus intangible assets and liabilities, fell 9.6 per cent, its worst drop in Mr Buffett’s tenure.”

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a861da38-05a8-11de-8166-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html

    Considering Buffett takes a very long term view of his investments I think he might be a very old man before he sees any kind of break even on these losses.

    This is a truly global scale recession that may still go into depression.

    It is the first time since the second world war that ALL of the world have posted declines together.

    Markets are sure to bounce. I suspect we will see at least 680 on the S&P (currently 720).

    I believe in positiveness and I am a perma-bull by nature but it is not sensible to ramp the market for the sake of it.

    Any sensible businessman will let the market bottom, wait for the dust to settle and then cherry pick the growth opportunities from that point.

    There are still to be many casualties from this debacle and even WB cannot now avoid it.

  • Leslie L Kossoff

    Yes, this is a global recession. And, yes, it is worse than anything we have seen before.

    As a result, yes, no matter what the company – Berkshire Hathaway included – performance will be lower than ever seen before.

    But, you tell me someone other than Buffett who has a 40+ year track record of beating the market on behalf of his investors – including during one of the worst years in history. I’ll still go with Buffett, his long-term investment philosophy and all the rest.

    Of particular note when it comes to the guy is that he, unlike the vast majority of executives currently or previously sitting at the top of their organizations, is willing to admit to making mistakes as well as to giving credit to those who deserve it in his organization for creating success.

    Buffett is an education in both investment and management – good years and bad. But you have to be willing to learn.

  • http://www.landscapejuice.com Philip Voice

    Moody’s downgrades Berkshire Hathaway

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bec81c80-2491-11de-9a01-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html

    “Fitch cut Berkshire to double-A, assigning a ”negative” outlook to the rating. In addition to concerns for the performance of Berkshire’s investments and operating units, the firm also reiterated ”long-standing concerns with respect to ’key man’ risk in the form of the company’s chairman.” Finding a successor to Mr Buffett is a daunting task, Fitch wrote.”

  • James English

    Cool blog Nell :) I remember reading this last year near when you first wrote it. I thought my Hortweek subscribtion had expired, turns out I’d just forgotten my passoword. Love the smiley face in the Berberis. Andrew was telling me that it is Berberine thatis responsible for the yellow colouring in most Berberidaceae plants. It is antibiotic, amongst many other things (I just had a look on wikipedia!). Was Nice to see yourself and Kirst the other week, hope all goes well for you guys on opening. All the best, and I’ll hopefully see you soon,
    James