Rating: 
Summary: What if Mr. Market goes really crazy?
Review: If you are reading this book just to be better informed, I think you will get your money's worth. I feel I got a five-star education. But if you are going to read it to make a decision to buy or not to buy Berkshire Hathaway, you should keep these two points in mind: First, almost everyone considers Warren Buffet to be the world's greatest investor. This special attribute of Mr. Buffet might be reflected in the price of Berkshire Hathaway stock. If Warren Buffet were no longer around, what would that do to Berkshire Hathaway? Hasn't Mr. Buffet's greatness built in a premium in Berkshire Hathaway stock?Second, this book proves that Mr. Buffet beat Mr. Market most of the time under normal circumstances. In abnormal circumstances, Mr. Market could beat Mr. Buffet. Abnormal circumstances would exist if Mr. Market went into a long, deep depression (like he did in the 1930's and dropped in value by 90%). And could a second terrorist attack similar to 9/11 cause Mr. Market to panic and create abnormal circumstances in the economy? No matter how good the company, Mr. Market can and will hurt the value of its stock. If there is another terrorist attack like 9/11, Mr. Market will panic and Coca Cola, Washington Post, GEICO, etc., would all suffer terribly.
Rating:
Summary: Belongs on the list of all time investment classics.
Review: Other reviewers have written that this book is undervalued and they are right. Right from the start Hagstrom gives us advice on the nature of the market. He then gives management tenants, how to value a business and all kinds of investment tenants. These tenents are so fundamental that its very difficult to see how investing can be done without them in one form or the other. This makes the book timeless. Numerous examples are given from real world cases of how these tenants are used. There is also an excellent appendix that gives examples of how a business is valued. This is very helpful. Some reviewers have criticized Hagstrom, saying that if the book is true, why isnt he rich? But this is not how information is to be judged. There are many books that contain solid gold advice, but there are few who master them. Buffett is among them. If one wants additional information on Buffets methods, I suggest reading "How to pick stocks like Warren Buffett" by Tim Vick. But The Warren Buffett Way is a classic and at the top of the heap.
Rating:
Summary: The Theory of Investing finally has a title
Review: Reading this book gives one the essential knowledge of a successful investment strategy. The book is not meant to make you rich, but establish a wealth of knowledge through a voyage into the mind of one oof the greatest investors of our time. The essential message of the book is buying value within your circle of experiance. The author outlines the people who influnced Buffet's way of thinking, and thier theories on investing. Great read
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Robert G. Hagstrom discusses Warren Buffett's secrets, covering how he became the most successful investor in the world and, as a result, one of the world's wealthiest men. Hagstrom begins by describing Buffett's early influences, from Benjamin Graham, the first professional financial analyst, to Philip Fisher, a professor and investment counselor. The key to Buffett's success is that he held onto his core principles for making investment decisions, based on four key steps: Turn off the stock market; don't worry about the economy; buy a business, not a stock; and manage a portfolio of businesses. The book is an excellent summary of the major principles and practices that led to Buffett's success. However, the extensive amount of financial analysis provides a lot of information about each of Buffett's investments. This can seem like too much detail if you just want an understanding of his basic investment principles. This fundamental book is written for everyone involved in making investment decisions.
Rating:
Summary: interesting overview, easy to read
Review: showed how common stocks made a lot of money- feel i missed the boat on simple winners
Rating: 
Summary: Great Philosophy, Good Read, Average Practical Use
Review: The "Warren Buffet Way" never ventures too far from common sense but whether that makes it ingeniously sound or blandly uninspired will be left for the reader to decide. The techniques Warren Buffet employed to attain success (and wealth) are well documented here with summaries of his investments from early life to recent times (1994). Each investment in analyzed through the lense of Warren Buffet's economic principles, a blend of widely recognized economic minds and Warren Buffets own basic philosophy, and the result is an appreciation for his business sense and stock selecting ability. This hindsight review of his choices is partially intended to teach you, the reader, how to make equally good investments and turn a profit without extensive risk. The problem lies in the fact that Buffet's confident simplicity is hard to obtain. The crux of his theory is calculating the intrinsic value of a company through research that is probably second nature to long-time professional investors like Buffet but is vague or downplayed in the book. Technological methods and industry readings are turned down in favor of a physical appraisal of the company and its management and an unexplained calculation of its potential. But who has the time or money to visit and interview every possible investment they are considering? And to do so when they are only just starting out with little idea of where to start or what is an important indicator of value and while being told to expect only long-term gains? The book tells you to look past the popular and fickle market at the company itself but it is unclear what to focus on. The idea is good, I'll try to put it to good use in my own investing, but its too general to nail down or check off on a list. Overall though, it will provide an insightful look at one of the richest men in the world. You'll learn some basic investment strategies and a little history. It's not an economic Bible but it may help beat the crowd without going too far over your head.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is crap!
Review: The author of this book, Robert Hagstrom, has never spoken to Mr. Buffett about investing. Yet for some strange reason Hagstrom feels qualified to write about Buffett's investment methods. After the book came out Hagstrom started a mutual fund to exploit his readers' trust, Hagstom claimed that he was going to use Buffett's methods as outlined in this book. But Hagstrom's mutual fund turned in such poor results he had to close it down. If you use the investment methodology found in this book you too will get the same poor results that Hagstrom did. If you want to know how Buffett did it, you should look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Too much of a good thing.
Review: The outline of Mr. Buffet's investment philosophy is profoundly worhtwhile reading. Unfortunately, the bulk of the book is concerned with providing examples of seemingly every investment he has made. The principles are discussed ad nauseum without adding any new insight. If this book was half as long as it is, I would have rated it a 9.
Rating:
Summary: A little dated and A little padded
Review: The Warren Buffet Way is covered on pages 256-268. The remainder of the book is historical examples of companies that Mr. Buffet purchased over the years, with each mapped into the principles that were outlined on those twelve pages. It's a shame Mr. Buffet avoids learning technology, and therefore he's missed the entire technology equity explosion - he could have made his customers and partners a LOT more money.
Rating: 
Summary: Too little content
Review: There really isn't much content in the book. I suspect the author had other interests, such as his management of a mutual fund that claims to be inspired by Buffet. First it goes into a little historical background on Buffet and his companies. Then one reasonably good chapter that summarizes his investment strategies. The final chapter repeats this all over again; a waste of print and paper. In the middle there are several chapters that describe his company's permenant holdings, long term holdings, and other holdings. These sections are extremly tedious and boring, and add very little value to the reader. Birkshire is very honest and strait shooting in its annual reports. Many readers would be better off reading to a copy of that, before picking up this book. And the annual report is free.
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