Berkshire Hathaway's 2017 annual report is live. Link here.
Read pages 3-17 for remarks from investing icon Warren Buffett, 87.
Among the highlights, Buffett details turning $636,500 into $2,222,279 in ten years with two trades and winning a famous investing bet for charity, while also humbling the entire hedge fund industry in the process.
My favorite anecdotes from the letter are here.
The letter led me to an excellent list of Buffett quotes.
Highlights:
“There are all kinds of businesses that Charlie and I don't understand, but that doesn't cause us to stay up at night. It just means we go on to the next one, and that's what the individual investor should do.”
“Indeed, we'll now settle for one good idea a year. (Charlie says it's my turn.)"
“I call investing the greatest business in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate, the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! and nobody calls a strike on you. There's no penalty except opportunity lost. All day you wait for the pitch you like; then when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it.”
“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect... You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd.”
“One of the ironies of the stock market is the emphasis on activity. Brokers, using terms such as "marketability" and "liquidity," sing the praises of companies with high share turnover... but investors should understand that what is good for the croupier is not good for the customer. A hyperactive stock market is the pick pocket of enterprise.”
“Do what you love and work for whom you admire the most, and you've given yourself the best chance in life you can.”
More Buffett quotes: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Warren_Buffett
BRK 2017 letter: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2017ar/2017ar.pdf
