Buffett's Early Investments

[marodq]

He released a 2014 edition in paper. Hopefully it will be on kindle soon as well.

:)

http://www.amazon.com/Of-Permanent-Value-Buffett-Endless/dp/157864867X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404561373&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=kilpatrick+of+permanen+value

 

Cool! Thats good to know. I guess I'll try to loan this one before splurging once again... Hehe.

 

Thank you Peter. :)

[mn_gophers1]

BCP is surely British Columbia Power, this stock was mentioned as an arbitrage done by Charlie Munger in the Snowball.

 

http://valueprax.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/notes-the-snowball-by-alice-schroeder-part-iii-chap-20-33/

 

 

[randomep]

 

Hi all,

 

I finally gotten around to making a list of Buffett's partnership investements.  The follow is the start, I'll add entries as I find them....

 

http://bovinebear.blogspot.com/2015/04/warren-buffett-partnership-investments.html

 

comments are appreciated.....

 

 

 

[Morgan]

 

Hi all,

 

I finally gotten around to making a list of Buffett's partnership investements.  The follow is the start, I'll add entries as I find them....

 

http://bovinebear.blogspot.com/2015/04/warren-buffett-partnership-investments.html

 

comments are appreciated.....

 

Great list! Thank you for putting that together!

[rukawa]

Thought I would revive this since I'm pretty interested in Buffett's early investments since that is the style of investment I'm pursing. Any new info on this?

[matjone]

I love reading about the early days of Buffett.  Here are some links, not sure if there is any new info here but it may interest some of you:

 

https://www.gurufocus.com/news/169950/how-warren-buffett-made-his-first-100000

 

http://valuevista.blogspot.com/2007/06/warren-buffett-50-returns.html

 

https://blogs.rhsmith.umd.edu/davidkass/uncategorized/warren-buffetts-meeting-with-university-of-maryland-mbams-students-november-15-2013/

 

http://boards.fool.com/buffettjayhawk-qa-22736469.aspx?sort=whole

[Brett]

 

 

Hi Folks, please help me here. I am looking at the aforementioned Buffet holdings in 1962. But the handwriting is hard to read (and I may need to get a kindle copy for better resolution), Can anyone tell me what are the following holdings?

 

BCP

TNP

LNC  (I doubt it is Lincoln National Corp because the price is too different)

Murray ??? There are many companies that start with Murray, but Murray what??

 

Thanks!

ps. these are not trivial holdings, all are more than 1% of portfolio.

 

What book did you get this from?

[Guest Cameron]

 

 

Hi Folks, please help me here. I am looking at the aforementioned Buffet holdings in 1962. But the handwriting is hard to read (and I may need to get a kindle copy for better resolution), Can anyone tell me what are the following holdings?

 

BCP

TNP

LNC  (I doubt it is Lincoln National Corp because the price is too different)

Murray ??? There are many companies that start with Murray, but Murray what??

 

Thanks!

ps. these are not trivial holdings, all are more than 1% of portfolio.

 

What book did you get this from?

 

Andy Kilpatrick - Of Permanent Value

[Brett]

 

 

Hi Folks, please help me here. I am looking at the aforementioned Buffet holdings in 1962. But the handwriting is hard to read (and I may need to get a kindle copy for better resolution), Can anyone tell me what are the following holdings?

 

BCP

TNP

LNC  (I doubt it is Lincoln National Corp because the price is too different)

Murray ??? There are many companies that start with Murray, but Murray what??

 

Thanks!

ps. these are not trivial holdings, all are more than 1% of portfolio.

 

What book did you get this from?

 

Andy Kilpatrick - Of Permanent Value

 

Do you know what edition it's in? I only have older versions.

 

Thank you!

[Guest Cameron]

 

 

Hi Folks, please help me here. I am looking at the aforementioned Buffet holdings in 1962. But the handwriting is hard to read (and I may need to get a kindle copy for better resolution), Can anyone tell me what are the following holdings?

 

BCP

TNP

LNC  (I doubt it is Lincoln National Corp because the price is too different)

Murray ??? There are many companies that start with Murray, but Murray what??

 

Thanks!

ps. these are not trivial holdings, all are more than 1% of portfolio.

 

What book did you get this from?

 

Andy Kilpatrick - Of Permanent Value

 

Do you know what edition it's in? I only have older versions.

 

Thank you!

 

I got the 2012 edition, I think its under Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. Its in the chapter Adventure: Big Bang.

[gfp]

Not sure if this all got figured out already, but TNP was Texas National Petroleum.  It was a merger arbitrage I think.  See pages 93 and 94 of James Altucher's book "trade like warren buffett"

 

back to this train wreck of a saints game///

[augustabound]

Not sure if this all got figured out already, but TNP was Texas National Petroleum.  It was a merger arbitrage I think.  See pages 93 and 94 of James Altucher's book "trade like warren buffett"

 

I found this on gurufocus. Most likely less in depth than the pages in James Altucher's book.

Buffett describes an arbitrage situation in which he invested that generated a 20%+ annualized return with little risk. When Union Oil announced it was buying Texas National Petroleum, Buffett noted that there were no anti-trust issues and the transaction was negotiated by controlling shareholders of the target. As such, he appraised the risk at virtually nil.

[LC]

Buffett noted that there were no anti-trust issues and the transaction was negotiated by controlling shareholders of the target. As such, he appraised the risk at virtually nil.

 

Interesting to note how WB assessed risk.

[DooDiligence]

Not sure if this all got figured out already, but TNP was Texas National Petroleum.  It was a merger arbitrage I think.  See pages 93 and 94 of James Altucher's book "trade like warren buffett"

 

back to this train wreck of a saints game///

 

Did that suck or what?

 

I'm not a huge football fan but remember my Dad taking me & my Sis to a Harlem Globetrotters game where they played Archie Manning's Saints & from then on I was a fan of the Saints.

 

Years later I had a side biz producing 18K fleur de lis for a number of jewelers around the state & was looking forward to a resurgence in biz to maybe move some old inventory & put an end to that chapter.

 

Did biz with L. Berg a few times but he proved difficult to work with & I liked my regulars much better anyway (lower turnover but better margins & nicer people.)

 

Tried to do biz with Borsheim's & Helzberg when I was repping a line of engagement rings but the owner just wanted to place ads in trade pubs & couldn't understand how a national consumer ad campaign would drive customers into stores for our designs  :-\ )

 

Anyways, black & geauld baby!

(next year...)

[Brett]

 

 

Hi Folks, please help me here. I am looking at the aforementioned Buffet holdings in 1962. But the handwriting is hard to read (and I may need to get a kindle copy for better resolution), Can anyone tell me what are the following holdings?

 

BCP

TNP

LNC  (I doubt it is Lincoln National Corp because the price is too different)

Murray ??? There are many companies that start with Murray, but Murray what??

 

Thanks!

ps. these are not trivial holdings, all are more than 1% of portfolio.

 

What book did you get this from?

 

Andy Kilpatrick - Of Permanent Value

 

Do you know what edition it's in? I only have older versions.

 

Thank you!

 

I got the 2012 edition, I think its under Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. Its in the chapter Adventure: Big Bang.

 

Thanks! You're the best. Fortunately, that's the edition I have.

[netnet]

I just bought (it has not arrived yet), a book by Glen Arnold called, The Deals of Warren Buffett: Volume 1, The First $100m;

 

it looks like it takes 10 or so deals from City Services through Berkshire, so it does not really get into all of his positions, but it may be representative and does have the cocoa beans, Dempster Mill and Sanborn.

 

I will post a review in the book section, when I have read it.

[Brett]

I just bought (it has not arrived yet), a book by Glen Arnold called, The Deals of Warren Buffett: Volume 1, The First $100m;

 

it looks like it takes 10 or so deals from City Services through Berkshire, so it does not really get into all of his positions, but it may be representative and does have the cocoa beans, Dempster Mill and Sanborn.

 

I will post a review in the book section, when I have read it.

 

I bought it and skimmed it. It doesn't look like he actually went into the annual reports from the year Buffett invested and researched what Buffett might have been thinking at the decision point. The book's very high-level.

[netnet]

I just bought (it has not arrived yet), a book by Glen Arnold called, The Deals of Warren Buffett: Volume 1, The First $100m;

 

it looks like it takes 10 or so deals from City Services through Berkshire, so it does not really get into all of his positions, but it may be representative and does have the cocoa beans, Dempster Mill and Sanborn.

 

I will post a review in the book section, when I have read it.

 

I bought it and skimmed it. It doesn't look like he actually went into the annual reports from the year Buffett invested and researched what Buffett might have been thinking at the decision point. The book's very high-level.

 

Oh sh@t, that's annoying.  I was hoping for a really in depth treatment.

[Brett]

I just bought (it has not arrived yet), a book by Glen Arnold called, The Deals of Warren Buffett: Volume 1, The First $100m;

 

it looks like it takes 10 or so deals from City Services through Berkshire, so it does not really get into all of his positions, but it may be representative and does have the cocoa beans, Dempster Mill and Sanborn.

 

I will post a review in the book section, when I have read it.

 

I bought it and skimmed it. It doesn't look like he actually went into the annual reports from the year Buffett invested and researched what Buffett might have been thinking at the decision point. The book's very high-level.

 

Oh sh@t, that's annoying.  I was hoping for a really in depth treatment.

 

I only skimmed a few sections, though. I was curious on Disney/Hochschild, in particular. I'm curious on your thoughts if you get around to it.

[Graham Osborn]

 

 

Thanks for the article, but I am not convinced by the thesis. In the 50's and 60's buffett invested in 400 companies total so the majority must be cigar butts. They must all contribute to his overall results, because if he was getting 30-50% a year he cannot have laggards in his portfolio....

 

I'd love to have list of his holdings back then (not just the 5 or 6 mentioned in snowball and other books)

 

Buffett had/ has laggards like every one else operating at similar AUM - the difference was the upside of his winners.  Although we don't have details on single-pick gains from the BPL days I think the best modern analogue is M Burry's early days at Scion.  In the first year he was up 55% gross while the S&P was down 10% - and that was all because of a single value stock in his portfolio that was a 3-6 bagger depending on the cost basis.  A number of his other picks (especially airlines in 2001) went nowhere.  This is a power law world.  You don't make 55% in a year by owning 10 equal-sized positions that each go up 55%.

 

Buffett did 30% gross at BPL.  His claim that he could consistently do 50% a year is bogus in my opinion unless he was managing <1M in inflation-adjusted dollars.  He has really done the community a disservice by saying that IMO.

[rolling]

 

 

Thanks for the article, but I am not convinced by the thesis. In the 50's and 60's buffett invested in 400 companies total so the majority must be cigar butts. They must all contribute to his overall results, because if he was getting 30-50% a year he cannot have laggards in his portfolio....

 

I'd love to have list of his holdings back then (not just the 5 or 6 mentioned in snowball and other books)

 

Buffett had/ has laggards like every one else operating at similar AUM - the difference was the upside of his winners.  Although we don't have details on single-pick gains from the BPL days I think the best modern analogue is M Burry's early days at Scion.  In the first year he was up 55% gross while the S&P was down 10% - and that was all because of a single value stock in his portfolio that was a 3-6 bagger depending on the cost basis.  A number of his other picks (especially airlines in 2001) went nowhere.  This is a power law world.  You don't make 55% in a year by owning 10 equal-sized positions that each go up 55%.

 

Buffett did 30% gross at BPL.  His claim that he could consistently do 50% a year is bogus in my opinion unless he was managing <1M in inflation-adjusted dollars.  He has really done the community a disservice by saying that IMO.

His 50% a year claim was in the 50s, before buffett partnership. Those were the years that sent him into his first "retirement" at 26. In fact, he said exactly what you said:

"It's a huge structural advantage not to have a lot of money. I think I could make you 50% a year on $1 million. No, I know I could. I guarantee that."

[scorpioncapital]

If you don't put sufficient funds into your winners -i.e too diversified or unsure, then your result will be somewhat more muted. You need both to be right, a good idea and enough conviction to put a large amount into it - perhaps 30 to 40% of your net worth - but you better  be right or else disaster!

[Brett]

Does anyone know when Buffett sold Greif Bros., Cleveland Worsted Mills, or Philadelphia Reading? I'm trying to figure out how much he made/lost on these but don't have estimates of when he sold. I'm looking for Buffett's portfolio by year, preferably. I know the Robert Miles book has some years, but not enough to figure it out for these specific names.

[EricSchleien]

 

 

Thanks for the article, but I am not convinced by the thesis. In the 50's and 60's buffett invested in 400 companies total so the majority must be cigar butts. They must all contribute to his overall results, because if he was getting 30-50% a year he cannot have laggards in his portfolio....

 

I'd love to have list of his holdings back then (not just the 5 or 6 mentioned in snowball and other books)

 

Buffett had/ has laggards like every one else operating at similar AUM - the difference was the upside of his winners.  Although we don't have details on single-pick gains from the BPL days I think the best modern analogue is M Burry's early days at Scion.  In the first year he was up 55% gross while the S&P was down 10% - and that was all because of a single value stock in his portfolio that was a 3-6 bagger depending on the cost basis.  A number of his other picks (especially airlines in 2001) went nowhere.  This is a power law world.  You don't make 55% in a year by owning 10 equal-sized positions that each go up 55%.

 

Buffett did 30% gross at BPL.  His claim that he could consistently do 50% a year is bogus in my opinion unless he was managing <1M in inflation-adjusted dollars.  He has really done the community a disservice by saying that IMO.

His 50% a year claim was in the 50s, before buffett partnership. Those were the years that sent him into his first "retirement" at 26. In fact, he said exactly what you said:

"It's a huge structural advantage not to have a lot of money. I think I could make you 50% a year on $1 million. No, I know I could. I guarantee that."

 

I believe it. I see businesses all the time selling for 1.5 - 2x earnings at that small of a level.

[Steven B]

Public or private?