Rating: 
Summary: Buffett to Cunningham: "Superb job."
Review: Forbes had it right when it quoted Buffett as saying this book is "superb." Morgan Stanley recently recommended it for its private clients, quoting Buffett again as saying this: "Larry Cunningham has done a great job at collating our philosophy. His book is far better than any of the biographies written to date. If I were to pick one book to read this would be the one." I concur and applaud amazon.com for getting it on their site. It is self-published and not always available at your average bookstore.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Book - Not only because of it's nice concept.
Review: Good because you can feel it is by Warren Buffett himself. It's like reading any great book ¡V presentation style matches perfectly with the underlying idea. While you are reading all the investment rules on the book, you know what an investor Warren Buffett is. He is so good at financial literacy; he looks for true value in a business just like an honest man looks for true love before he promotes himself from Single to Married; he is confident on his own faith; he has great vision on the kingdom of investment¡K They are not only investment rules of Warren Buffett, but also personality of Warren Buffett.If you want to know how Warren Buffett looks at a business (or an investment), you must read this book. If you want to keep dreaming about becoming a billionaire overnight, go back to your Wall Street brokers. They have plenty of dreams on every single equity listed on any market on earth ¡V of course you need to provide commission for sweet dreams¡K sometimes nightmare as well!! Yes, pay for nightmare. Look at those who were advised to buy in Enron before the meltdown. You won¡¦t find any stock picking advise from this book. What you will find is a lesson on becoming a true investor rather than a speculator. [P.S. In one of the essay (written years ago) in the book, Warren Buffett even pointed out how American Oil Giant make use of the ¡§Creative Accounting¡¨skills in inflating their earnings. So, he has the ability to know the future? Definitely not. He is just an honest wise man who loves the truth!]
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book of cautionary wisdom minus one lesson
Review: I bought and read this shortly after a Wall Street Journal OpEd article quoted Warren Buffet saying 'Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal". The article incorrectly referenced the size of the derivatives market at $2 trillion. That number is just for credit derivatives. I enjoyed this book for Buffet's wisdom, but it didn't include his recent adventures and losses with the GenRe unit and credit derivatives Finanacial professionals may want to read more about off-shore vehicles and the credit derivatives market, but very few books are available. I recommend Tavakoli's book: "Credit Derivatives" 2nd Edition.
Rating:
Summary: Time extremely well invested¿.
Review: I cannot imagine that Mr. Warren Buffet is not on any investor's top 10 list of the greatest investors since there were markets in this Country. I would also suggest that a dispassionate appraisal of his performance argues quite eloquently that he is the best to have ever amassed his fortune, and that of his shareholders on Wall Street. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Lawrence A. Cunningham readers have access to essays that previously were available primarily to shareholders, and which are organized in this book thematically for the first time. Annual reports are generally easy to come by, however as I write, 1 Share Of Berkshire Hathaway "A" requires $59,900.00, and the "Baby Berkshires" $1,966.00 per share. Many are quick to respond the price is so high as Mr. Buffet has not split the stock, ever. But what is more important is why he has never done this. This book explains his theory on this matter, and dozens of others. Mr. Buffet has his critics, they range from the idiotic, "he's lucky", "his success allows him to make attractive deals", and to those who feel he missed the money that was made in tech stocks. As for the luck theory, who else has earned 23.8% compounded annually for over 25 years? Winning the lottery is probably more likely an event. As to the attractive deals his wealth is said to facilitate, I guess the answer is, is the questioner serious? He made what he has, his reputation allowed him to have the Federal Government allow Solomon Brothers to continue participating in the bond market based on one thing, his word! This is a man who has rescinded very successful trades because news arrived within days of his buying that could have given the appearance of his having had information others were not privy to. This book has more useful information and ideas that have been proven over decades than any 10 hot Business Books of the moment. Mr. Buffet has had off years, but he has never gone bust. One of my favorite stories is when he was hanging out with friends as a kid, his pals were collecting bottles for the deposit. He was collecting bottle caps, sorting them, and determining who was drinking what brand! He clearly was put amongst us for a reason. On a time invested basis there is no better or more rewarding reading than these essays. No one can match what he has accomplished, why would someone not wish to hear what he has to say on dozens of topics?
Rating:
Summary: Delayed in print and not "OUT OF PRINT"
Review: I have been talking to Professor Cunningham and apparently, this book is not "out of print" as amazon states (Third party private sellers are selling the book for as much as $99) but rather, just delayed in printing. He will have the next shipment of books to amazon soon, and it will be retailing for US$25. This should appear on amazon very soon, so just keep checking back! For bulk orders, please contact Professor Cunningham directly at cunninlb@mail.bc.edu. Hope this help! Cheers
Alex
Rating:
Summary: Delayed in print and not "OUT OF PRINT"
Review: I have been talking to Professor Cunningham and apparently, this book is not "out of print" as amazon states (Third party private sellers are selling the book for as much as $99) but rather, just delayed in printing. He will have the next shipment of books to amazon soon, and it will be retailing for US$25. This should appear on amazon very soon, so just keep checking back! For bulk orders, please contact Professor Cunningham directly at cunninlb@mail.bc.edu. Hope this help! Cheers
Alex
Rating:
Summary: Genius talks - Book worth $100,000
Review: I read a couple of books about Warren Buffet and a few of BH's annual reports before. Nothing beats the Sage in his own words. This book is a condensation of the Sage's wisdom. Extremely educational. Topics well laid out. Makes me look at certain issues from the unconventional perspective - i.e. the Sage's perspective. This book is the bible on investing, corporate finance, corporate governance and accounting. But I don't think business students should read this book or BH's annual reports - lest they doubt their professors too much or that most textbooks have to be rewritten. If however you are no longer in school and you read only one book on investing, this is The Book.
Rating:
Summary: Warren Buffet: 21st Century's JP Morgan!
Review: I thought the book a great guide to understanding the inner workings of such a financial titan, W.E. Buffet. With these essays one learns just how to think--not how to get rich or powerful, simply to think reasonabley, logically, and sharply. The Market can be your friend only if you think of it as such--a friend with "highs" and "lows" but in the end, can be there for YOU when you need him MOST. I like that sort of thinking, and as a college student, hope I can learn--no, master--the skills laid out in this book. By the by, to Mr. Marshall: Warren Buffet is JIMMY Buffet's cousin. Honest mistake.
Rating:
Summary: Prophecy from the Oracle
Review: If you are at all involved in business or investing, you should read this book. NOTE: Though you can read all of Buffett's letters to the shareholders that are assimilated in this compilation through Berkshire Hathaway's website, I found this compilation quite helpful and much more "user-friendly" than clicking through links upon links of letters. As far as material is concerned, Buffett speaks to the masses as the messiah of capitalism- not that he would ever claim such a title. As a recent college grad, I found that I learned more from reading Buffett's writings than I learned in numerous college courses. The material in his letters is simply that insightful. Did I mention that Buffett is a funny old guy? That all comes through in these letters, as well. In another life, Buffett would have made an excellent teacher. Fortunately, Buffett likes to talk - he wants to share his understandings and insights, the thoughts of the master: his letters or "essays" are those thoughts. And what a nice little book in which to read them. I know that I am better off as an investor and as an academic for reading them. I will undoubtedly re-read this book at least once more. I cannot give it any higher recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: The Wit and Wisdom of Warren Buffett
Review: If you are used to reading public company annual reports, including the (usually) short letters from company presidents, you know how shallow, self-congratulatory and sometimes even misleading these reports can be. On the (extreme) other hand, Warren Buffett's annual letters in his Berkshire Hathaway annual reports represent detailed, on-target, lively and highly readable masterpieces of valuable education, information, and wit. You can read Buffett's annual letters for free at Berkshire Hathaway's website, but it will take you a while, since there are many of them (back to 1977) and they run 20+ pages each. Further, Buffett's various letters weren't intended to serve as serial chapters of a book. Better, you can shell out the cost of Lawrence Cunningham's thematically organized collection (220 pages or so)of Buffett's essays and gain a better appreciation of the numerous important topics that Buffett addresses. These topics include, first and foremost, the critical impact of the quality of corporate governance--Buffett was years ahead of most investors in focusing on this area. Other topics include corporate finance (addressed with a clarity that is both unusual and revealing of Buffett's powers of insight), mergers and acquisitions, accounting (Buffett is the only person I know who can regularly make accounting seem positively interesting), taxes, junk bonds and much more. Moreover, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is nearly unique in its intense commitment to shareholders. The opposite (a commitment to management entrenchment and exorbitant compensation) is the norm with so many companies today that it would be easy to forget how vital shareholder primacy should be. As you read Buffett's essays you will have a model to measure other companies against--which should come in handy the next time you exercise your voting rights as a shareholder. Life is short. As an investor or a concerned citizen-shareholder, you can learn through your own experiences, of course. There's nothing wrong with that, but the process can be long and expensive. (Depending on one's experiences, it can be very expensive.) Alternately, you can learn via Warren Buffett's lifetime of experiences distilled into a very readable, lively, fascinating collection of his essays. Buy the book-I doubt that you'll regret it.
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