Question on reading 10 years of 10-Ks

[merkhet]

Out of curiosity, when you're reviewing 10 years of 10-Ks, do you start from the most recent year or ten years back.  And why?

 

I like reading from ten years back so that you can get a feel for the development of the company.

[gfp]

I always read the most recent one first, then in order from the beginning.  This week, I read KFT from 2001 and it was sort of a depressing experience. 

[Parsad]

There's no right and wrong.  If you want to get a better feel of the company and how it developed, then start at the beginning.  I actually do that over and over with Berkshire and Fairfax.  If you want more recent information so as to come to a current estimate of intrinsic value, then start with the newer ones. 

 

I think this is a bit of what I was trying to lay out for Harry.  This aspect of what you do is like painting a canvas...do you paint from the borders in, or do you start in the middle and work out to the borders.  There is no correct answer...no system.  Kind of looking at the financial statements...where do you start?  There's varying answers.  I personally always start with the balance sheet.  It's the very first thing I go to.  Cheers!