Warren Buffett revealed his views in a recent interview where he talks about a string of issues from geopolitics to what makes a good manager.
Warren Buffett defines his typical day as getting up a few minutes, before seven, to catch the morning news.
He checks prices, and what is happening in Europe, and Japan. “I then call Mark (his assistant) at 8 o’clock before the market opens and tell him exactly what to do for the day,” he said.
“If there is a limit price I give him the price and he does it all day,” he said.
Transactions often are in the billions of dollars, and his assistant executes the orders unsupervised.
“Transactions often are in the billions of dollars, and his assistant executes the orders unsupervised”
WEALTH TRAINING COMPANY
Warren Buffett revealed his first investment was made at 11 years old
The nonagenarian bought his first stocks 80 years ago, in 1942. At 11 years old he took one hundred and fourteen dollars seventy-five cents, “every penny I saved and bought three shares in City Services,” he said.
He claimed to have read every book relating to socks in his father’s office by 11 years old.
Warren Buffett revealed his long-term investment strategy, being an investor of a business and not a stock speculator.
“When I was 11 I picked stocks, I had the wrong idea,” he said. He then read a book entitled, Intelligent Investor, which he said changed his thinking, and from that point, he viewed stock purchases as being a piece of a publicly traded business. “I became an owner of a business,” he said.
Warren Buffett views volatility as a means of buying stocks cheaply.
“When I was 11 I picked stocks, I had the wrong idea”
WARREN BUFFETT
Orientation counts more than brains, Warren Buffett revealed
“You do not need to be a genius in what I do. 170 points of IQ does not do any better than 120,” he said.
“Most people who buy stocks do not think of them the right way, they think of something that they hope goes up the next week. They think about the market that they hope goes up, if it goes down I feel better,” he said.
“I think about what the company will be worth 10 to 20 years from now.
I hope it goes down when I buy it because I can buy more for the same amount of money,” he said.
If I were a farmer I would want farmland to go down so I could buy more acreage,” he added.
“When I do something I want to do it big. I have never had less than 80% of my money in American business” – Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett revealed he prefers doing large deals
“When I do something I want to do it big. I have never had less than 80% of my money in American business.
Owning five homes doesn’t mean anything to me. I live in the same house I bought in 1958. I like being five minutes from the office.
I know I will win over time. The game is very easy if you have the right lessons in your mind about what to buy.
I like being trusted by people,” he said.
The world has changed significantly since 2020, Warren Buffett revealed which comes as no shocker to many
He Thinks Fed chair Powell matched Paul Volcker on what needed to be done that day. Everything that happens in the investment world reminds him of the past. “About market timing, I don’t think that way, let’s pretend there is no stock market,” he said. People would do so much better if they forget about the stock market and think about buying a business,” he said.
“They closed the stock exchange in 1914 for long periods, and in 911 they closed the stock exchange for a few days. There are big events in this world.”
No heads-up from Buffett regarding current turbulence; “It does do me or the world any good to talk about that,” he said.
“Today the bottom 2 to 5 %, and for sure, the top 1% all live better than Rockefeller was living when I was six years old,” he said
“Look for ability, trust, and character same qualities in a spouse”
– Warren Buffett
Rockefeller was then the world’s richest man. “Today, you can get a better education, transportation, medicine, and entertainment. You can do everything better than he could. When I was born, the dentist didn’t use novocaine,” he said.
America represents less than 1% of the global population. They didn’t come laidend with gold and have the same IQs. Fast forward a couple of my lifetimes, and they got 20% plus of all the bounty in the world.
That is an argument for capitalism, But capitalism does not mean getting rid of a referee, a government, and a judicial system. The federal government should not screw up capitalism, and capitalism shouldn’t screw up the government,” he said.
Capitalism is evolving and all it can do is give back what it produces to other people. It makes life better. He cited Ford, which brought IC autos to the masses, and Thomas Edison’s invention of incandescent light. Modern examples, Apple, the I iPhone, and Tesla’s mass production of EVs. It isn’t like the richest guys in the country are going to eat up everything.
Civil war, and the great depression, he believes the system moves forward, lifting all with it, businesses, government, and people.
Warren Buffett revealed nuclear war is his concern.
Buffett avoids talking about the current geopolitical crisis, the war in Europe.
He quoted Einstein. “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones”.
He noted climate change is important, but great powers at war can terminate life as we know it.
The Ukrainian war poses a greater risk of a nuclear exchange than the Cuban missile crisis with the Doomsday clock 100 seconds to midnight.
It is best to invest long-term in S&P 500 index, Warren Buffett revealed
He thinks China will grow into a superpower.
Regarding qualities in a manager; “Look for ability, trust, and character same qualities in a spouse,” he said. Always be around people better than you, they pull you in the right direction, and it is good to have someone in your life you don’t want to disappoint, he said.
“Aside from sickness and death, everything I thought was bad at the time has drawn well,” he said.
His legacy is Berkshire Hathaway.
