Investment Diaries

Investing, Buffett style

In 2013, he called the airlines industry a “death trap for investors”. Over the last few months, he has invested nearly $10 billion in United Airlines, American, Delta and Southwest.  He said that he did not understand tech companies. During the second half of 2016, he purchased close to $7 billion of Apple shares. 

Welcome to the world of Warren Buffett!

With a personal net worth of an estimated $77 billion, Warren Buffett is among the top three richest people in the world and undoubtedly one of the most successful investors. He manages Berkshire Hathaway’s $604 billion balance sheet with his colleague, Charles Munger. Today, Berkshire Hathaway generates over $30 billion annually in operating cash flows. So in the few minutes that you’ve been reading this, a quarter of a million has been come in to his accounts.

When one thinks of big names associated with Investment Banking, it is usually firms like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America that come to mind. Under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) of the United States, that was signed in 2008 to address the sub-prime mortgage crisis, Goldman received $10 billion, JPMorgan $25 billion, Bank of America $336.1 billion and Citibank $476.2 billion as funding and guarantees from the U.S. Treasury.  Buffett lent a $5 billion-emergency loan to Goldman at this time. The bailouts helped these firms survive the crisis after committing very risky and “junk” investments in derivatives in the hope of making billions.

And while Wall Street was in crisis…..

Berkshire Hathaway averaged 19 percent annual growth in book value since 1965 (compared to 9.7 percent of the S&P 500 for the same period), employing large capital and minimal debt. So if you invested $1000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1964, when Buffett acquired shares for a princely sum of $19 per share, today, it would be worth $12.6 million. (March 24 closing price: $2,52,301)

The Investment Rationale

                                                                           Courtesy: Bloomberg

                                                                                 Source: YouTube 

47 years after he took over as Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett continues to make headlines. What is the reason for his success? A simple answer would be that Buffett bought the stock of companies with good fundamentals with a long term objective at low prices, while firms were “hot for bullish stocks.”

We started with Buffett’s investments in the Airlines industry and Apple: two investments yet to be understood. While Apple is one of the strongest brands and richest companies in the world, its shares seem undervalued by the market. The U.S. Airlines Industry after years of losses and rounds of restructuring and mergers, through four companies namely American, Delta, Southwest and United control 80 percent of domestic flights in the country. Over the last four years, low fuel costs and less competition have led to large profits. So it appears that Buffett generally likes to invest in companies when it appears that the shares are quoted below the underlying intrinsic value. Buffett avoids investing in dynamic sectors such as technology where he is unsure of a company or its stock having a competitive yet sustainable advantage among others.

So with a bank account balance like Buffett’s, you would definitely have a few excesses. But Buffett or the “Oracle of Omaha” as he is called, is a man with simple tastes. He continues to live in the same house he bought in 1958. He continues to drive his own car and does not have a driver or security around him. And in this digital world, as you’re reading this on your mobile or computer, it is fascinating to know, that he does not carry a cell phone around.

Quote-Unquote 

Courtesy: Value Investing Singapore

"Never invest in a business you cannot understand." 

"Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." 

"Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years."

"It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price, than a fair company at a wonderful price."

"Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well."

Happy Investing!

Financial Tales

Financial Tales

Graphic Courtesy: Canva.com

At Wall Street, they say 'Money Never Sleeps' and much closer to home, it's quite the same at Dalal Street. Pandemonium becomes king of the trading floor. Numbers, numbers, numbers, everywhere. Here, we find transactions worth millions of rupees taking place with the click of  a button, new data constantly pouring in being analysed with the blink of an eye and decibel levels soaring with people trying to make that perfect trade at the opportune moment. And they all have one goal: to make money. But there's so much more to the world of financial decision making than just that.  There's the decision making process to be considered, there are the policies in the country that affect the functioning of the firms, the regulations in place and of course, the general economic conditions at large. 

This blog contains my thoughts on select aspects of the financial world, both national and global. While this is not meant to be a full fledged analysis it merely conveys my take on some economic and financial events happening in India and around the world. With a background in commerce and an interest in understanding the behavioural aspects of finance and economics (albeit, with very basic knowledge of it), I chose to call my blog Flip-Flop Finance for two reasons. I wanted to present my take on every-day financial issues, but in an informal manner, with flip-flops and not close-toe shoes. I also want to make it a point eventually to understand the psychological aspects of these issues, and understand irrational and rational decision making, the dilly-dallying of the mind in making decisions we believe will benefit us.

This blog is thus, not just about money matters, it is an attempt to present a simple yet objective view on a range of topical and influential financial issues, through the lens of an enthusiastic student of the field. 

Happy Reading!