we’re wiser and luckier. Most people would look back and say their worst mistake was not firing someone soon enough. http://www.fool.com/boringport/2000/boringport00051500.htm
Performance:
“Don’t confuse correlation and causation. Almost all great records eventually dwindle…” http://www.tilsonfunds.com/
Pessimism
“Is there such thing as a cheerful pessimist? That’s what I am.” http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2001/foth010508.htm
Phil Fisher:
I always like it when someone attractive to me agrees with me, so I have fond memories of Phil Fisher. The idea that it was hard to find good investments, so concentrate in a few, seems to me to be an obviously good idea. But 98% of the investment world doesn’t think this way. http://www.tilsonfunds.com/brkmtg04notes.doc
Philanthropy:
those of us who have been very fortunate have a duty to give back. Whether one gives a lot as one goes along as I do or a little and then a lot [when one dies] as Warrendoes is a matter of personal preference. I would hate to have people ask me for money all day long. http://www.tilsonfunds.com/
“Is anyone really surprised that Warren, who is the ultimate embodiment of concentrated decision-making power, picked somebody [Bill and Melinda Gates] who he thinks is like him in many important ways? It was a noble and sensible decision.” http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2006/06/26/the_wit_and_wis.html
Physics:
“The tradition of always looking for the answer in the most fundamental way available — that is a great tradition, and it saves a lot of time in this world.” Damn Right, page 34 http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471446912,descCd-tableOfContents.html
Planning:
“There has never been a master plan. Anyone who wanted to do it, we fired because it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t cover new reality. We want people taking into account new information.” http://www.tilsonfunds.com/wscmtg04notes.doc
“Strategic plans cause more dumb decisions than anything else in America.” http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/1996/10/21/newscolumn6.html
Poker:
“Life in part is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much loved hand.” http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/pdf/page228.pdf
“Playing poker in the Army and as a young lawyer honed my business skills … What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge, back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often.” Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Cha lie Munger, Janet Lowe john Wiley &Sons, 2003 http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471446912,descCd-tableOfContents.html
Poor Charlie’s Almanack
“This book was a crazy thing to have done, and not everyone will like it, but what the hell.” https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/
Price
“We bought a doomed textile mill [Berkshire Hathaway] and a California S&L [Wesco] just before a calamity. Both were bought at a discount to liquidation value.” http://www.tilsonfunds.com/
“Wrigley is a great business, but that doesn’t solve the problem. Buying great businesses at advantageous prices is very tough.” http://www.tilsonfunds.com/
“If you can buy the best companies, over time the pricing takes care of itself.” – (OID)
“The investment game always involves considering both quality and price, and the trick is to get more quality than you pay for in price. It’s just that simple. Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Cha lie Munger, Janet Lowe john Wiley &Sons, 2003 http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471446912,descCd-tableOfContents.html
Pricing Power:
“There are actually businesses, that you will find a few times in a lifetime, where any manager could raise the return enormously just by raising prices—and yet they haven’t done it. So they have huge untapped pricing power that they’re not using. That is the ultimate no-brainer. … Disney found that it could raise those prices a lot and the attendance stayed right up. So a lot of the great record of Eisner and Wells … came from just raising prices at Disneyland and Disneyworldand through video cassette sales of classic animated movies… At Berkshire Hathaway, Warren and I raised the prices of See’s Candy a little faster than others might have. And, of course, we invested in Coca-Cola—which had some untapped pricing power. And it also had brilliant management. So a Goizueta and Keough could do much more than raise prices. It was perfect.” http://ycombinator.com/munger.html
Priorities:
“Trying to prioritize among things we’re unlikely to do is pretty fruitless.” http://www.tilsonfunds.com/brkmtg04notes.doc
Predictions:
Berkshireis in the business of making easy predictions If a deal looks too hard, the partners simply shelve it.” http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/05/29/8378052/index.htm
“We’re the tortoise that has outrun the hare because it chose the easy predictions. http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06062914.htm
Preparation:
“Opportunitycomes to the prepared mind.” http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:IuDIHXun74MJ:www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578643031%3Fv%3Dglance+%22Charlie+Munger%22+%22I+didn%27t+get+to+where+I+am%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
“a lot of opportunities in life tend to last a short while, due to some temporary inefficiency… For each of us, really good investment opportunities aren’t going to come along too often and won’t last too long, so you’ve got to be ready to act and have a prepared mind.” http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2003/commentary030509wt.htm
Private Equity:
“In the 1930s, there as a stretch here you could borrow more against the real estate than you could sell it for. I think that’s hat’s going on in today’s private-equity world.” http://www.designs.valueinvestorinsight.com/bonus/bonuscontent/docs/Tilson_2006_BRK_Meeting_Notes.pdf#search=%22Charlie%20munger%20and%20foundation%20and%20croupier%22
Problems
“Some people seem to think there’s no trouble just because it hasn’t happened yet. If you jump out the window at the 42nd floor and you’re still doing fine as you pass the 27th floor, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a serious problem.” http://money.cnn.
