AzCactus

CorpRaider-I think that's a great idea if anyone wants to answer the question in a way that allows for more flexibility I think that would be awesome and also maybe a good way for people to feel a bit less threatened by the title.

I respectfully disagree. I mention ten years, not 200 or something. Some of the best investors have held onto investments for close to and occasionally ten years, especially Buffett. Furthermore, and as an aside---feel free to mention some of the qualities that you would look for in a business that you would consider holding for that time frame. David

If Brindle is gone, I am gone! ;) Gio But my understanding of the thread is you can't sell the company for 10 years. What happens if Malone, Biglari, Watsa, and Einhorn are all in a plane crash together next year? These are all businesses that rely heavily on their leader. DCG----My idea when creating the thread was that the companies couldn't be sold for ten years. We have all heard Buffett/Lynch say buy a company so good that any idiot could run it because sooner or later one will. Basically that implies that if a company has a large enough moat they would still earn decent returns on capital. Obviously, the four guys mentioned above maybe superior at allocating capital and managing an organization and they would also add value.

Hi Oddball---I'm not meaning to suggest that ten years is not a long time. I couldn't even drive 10 years ago. That being said a better question may have been what companies do you think have enduring moats/competitive advantages?

In the interest of not starting my first topic and avoiding the question, my top 3 would be: BAC BRK.B ESRX David

There are some stocks that seem pretty cheap. But in terms of using this board as a proxy (which was mentioned above)---I think that's a bit of a mistake. Most people on this board probably consider themselves value investors---however two different people could have completely independent approaches and still garner good results. As an example Charlie Munger ran an EXTREMELY concentrated portfolio and Walter Schloss ran a VERY diversified portfolio. However, in retrospect investing with either of those guys would have been a great decision.