Saft on wealth - Buffet and the rest of us

From The Edge Malaysia
Written by Reuters
27 Aug 2012

Aug 23 (Reuters): I don't know how to put this but ... Warren Buffett is awesome, and you and me, we almost certainly are not.

A new study aiming to get at the source of the legendary investor's outperformance demonstrates that his approach, which turned a dollar in 1976 into $1,500 today, is relatively simple: Use modest, cheap leverage to buy high-quality, cheap and safe shares.

Economic Moats: A Successful Company's Best Defense

By Investopedia
4 Oct 2009

Cash flow generation, debt-free balance sheets and a significant and sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace are some of the reasons great companies stand out from the pack.

What is it that separates companies that thrive for decades from the ones that flounder for years?

The answer may lie in what is referred to as a company's economic moat, a phrase popularized by investing legend Warren Buffett. In this article, we'll introduce you to the concept and explain why it is so important to consider as a long-term investor.

Warren Buffett’s winning ways, 50 years on - Famed investor’s ‘Ground Rules’ from early 1960s hold true

By Market Watch
27 July 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Warren Buffett doesn’t usually make market predictions, but in an early July letter to shareholders, the legendary investor offered insights to help them through a treacherous stretch for stocks.

“I think you can be quite sure that over the next ten years there are going to be a few years when the general market is plus 20% or 25%, a few when it is minus on the same order, and a majority when it is in between,” Buffett wrote. “I haven’t any notion as to the sequence in which these will occur, nor do I think it is of any great importance for the long-term investor.”