New book 'Warren Buffett - an Investography'

I am very happy to share the news about a new kindle book Warren Buffett - an Investography. It can be read from amazon.com site. It can be read with Kindle device. Otherwise it can can also be read on your desktop or laptop by installing free ‘Kindle for PC’ application that can be downloaded from http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/pc/download.

For detailed information about how to read kindle books in PC, please refer to this previous post.

Writing a new book on Warren Buffett is a challenging things since volume of books are already written. Like sex, reading

Warren Buffett biography

, is never going to bore.

Now product description of the book from amazon site.

Interesting account of world’s most successful investor. The book gives a detailed information on how a boy from Omaha became most revered man amongst investors around the globe. 

Warren Buffett had been the wealthiest man in the world. He has been number two and number three. He accumulated every penny of his fortune from the word go. Not only that. He multiplied in many times and helped whole lot of his shareholders becoming millionaires in that process. He is a standing example that success in stock market is nothing but manifestation of commonsense and high school mathematics. 

Contrary to the popular belief that you should be in Wall Street to operate in financial world, he stayed back in Omaha and inspired average men and women like us that any one of us can beat the market filled with self-styled experts. He mockingly said, “Omaha is as good a spot as any. Here you can see the forest. In New York, it's hard to see beyond the trees”

He focused his time, energy and capital into meaningful investment opportunities. In his own words: “I'd rather have a $10 million business making 15 percent than a $100 million business making 5 percent”

He developed a clear conviction which directed his investment decisions. He kept on remembering the words ‘You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you’ of his mentor Benjamin Graham, and acted upon his ‘Buy when others sell and sell when others buy’ mantra. He said, “You are dealing with a lot of silly people in the marketplace; its like a great big casino, and everyone else is boozing. If you can stick with Pepsi, you should be okay.” Buffett strongly recommends to turn a blind eye to all stock recommendation from brokers. If asked why, he would say: “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.”

When the markets peaked he had the mental strength to hold his nerves by saying, “I feel like an oversexed guy on a desert Island. I (didn’t) find anything to buy”. When everyone shied away from equity investment he jumped in declaring, “I feel like an oversexed guy in a harem. This is the time to start investing”

Though he kept on saying that a fat wallet is the enemy of superior investment results and his past achievements could not be replicated in the future, he kept on beating his own estimates and continues to add wealth to Berkshire shareholders.

Perhaps no other practicing capitalist has done so much towards investor education and improvement of corporate accountability as Warren Buffett. On top of that, he has pledged to give away his hard earned money back to the society through philanthropy, instead of passing on the estate to his heirs. 

Buffett said, “The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves. But, unlike the Lord, the market does not forgive those who know not what they do.”

This book chronicles his transformation from a little known boy to world famous investor, both in terms of wealth and wisdom. Should benefit common public and investors alike in helping themselves.

Free ebook download of 'The Science of Stock Market Investment'

- Chellamuthu Kuppusamy

Get 100 % discount on the purchase of “The Science of Stock Market Investment - Practical Guide to Intelligent Investors”

All you need to do is.

1. LIKE the The Science of Stock Market Investment facebook page 

2. Buy the book at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009XUI1X6 and write few lines of review in amazon.com after reading it. (Refer to 'How to read kindle ebook' post for more details) The comment can be fair and honest. It does not have to be positive and portray only good things about it.

3.  Post the same comments on your facebook page, google + or blog  and give link to the book

4. Get back 100% of the book cover price as rebate 

The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009!!

This is what Warren Buffet had to say in his annual letter to shareholders.

******
Our decrease in net worth during 2008 was $11.5 billion, which reduced the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 9.6%. Over the last 44 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $70,530, a rate of 20.3% compounded annually.

The table on the preceding page, recording both the 44-year performance of Berkshire’s book value and the S&P 500 index, shows that 2008 was the worst year for each. The period was devastating as well for corporate and municipal bonds, real estate and commodities. By yearend, investors of all stripes were bloodied and confused, much as if they were small birds that had strayed into a badminton game.

As the year progressed, a series of life-threatening problems within many of the world’s great financial institutions was unveiled. This led to a dysfunctional credit market that in important respects soon turned non-functional. The watchword throughout the country became the creed I saw on restaurant walls when I was young: “In God we trust; all others pay cash.”

By the fourth quarter, the credit crisis, coupled with tumbling home and stock prices, had produced a paralyzing fear that engulfed the country. A freefall in business activity ensued, accelerating at a pace that I have never before witnessed. The U.S. – and much of the world – became trapped in a vicious negative-feedback cycle. Fear led to business contraction, and that in turn led to even greater fear.

This debilitating spiral has spurred our government to take massive action. In poker terms, the Treasury and the Fed have gone “all in.” Economic medicine that was previously meted out by the cupful has recently been dispensed by the barrel. These once-unthinkable dosages will almost certainly bring on unwelcome aftereffects. Their precise nature is anyone’s guess, though one likely consequence is an onslaught of inflation.

Moreover, major industries have become dependent on Federal assistance, and they will be followed by cities and states bearing mind-boggling requests. Weaning these entities from the public teat will be a political challenge. They won’t leave willingly.

Whatever the downsides may be, strong and immediate action by government was essential last year if the financial system was to avoid a total breakdown. Had that occurred, the consequences for every area of our economy would have been cataclysmic. Like it or not, the inhabitants of Wall Street, Main Street and the various Side Streets of America were all in the same boat.

Amid this bad news, however, never forget that our country has faced far worse travails in the past. In the 20th Century alone, we dealt with two great wars (one of which we initially appeared to be losing); a dozen or so panics and recessions; virulent inflation that led to a 211/2% prime rate in 1980; and the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment ranged between 15% and 25% for many years. America has had no shortage of challenges.

Without fail, however, we’ve overcome them. In the face of those obstacles – and many others – the real standard of living for Americans improved nearly seven-fold during the 1900s, while the Dow Jones Industrials rose from 66 to 11,497. Compare the record of this period with the dozens of centuries during which humans secured only tiny gains, if any, in how they lived. Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead.

Take a look again at the 44-year table on page 2. In 75% of those years, the S&P stocks recorded a gain. I would guess that a roughly similar percentage of years will be positive in the next 44. But neither Charlie Munger, my partner in running Berkshire, nor I can predict the winning and losing years in advance. (In our usual opinionated view, we don’t think anyone else can either.) We’re certain, for example, that the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 – and, for that matter, probably well beyond – but that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall.

In good years and bad, Charlie and I simply focus on four goals:
(1) maintaining Berkshire’s Gibraltar-like financial position, which features huge amounts of excess liquidity, near-term obligations that are modest, and dozens of sources of earnings and cash;
(2) widening the “moats” around our operating businesses that give them durable competitive advantages;
(3) acquiring and developing new and varied streams of earnings;
(4) expanding and nurturing the cadre of outstanding operating managers who, over the years, have delivered Berkshire exceptional results.