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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Stock Trading Like Warren Buffett

By Mike Swanson

Warren Buffett strategy is known worldwide for being one of the most successful at buying stock picks ever. His philosophy is based on the Benjamin Graham process of value investing. When he took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 he invested $10,000, this investment today is worth nearly $30 million. If he has invested this amount in the S&P 500 it would have grown in value to $500 000!

This legendary investor who has his head screwed on right has become a myth in his lifetime. He is something of a bargain hunter and he pursues bargains as part of his value investment philosophy, which sees him buying stocks that other investors overlook. It is as though he can see something in under-valued stocks that other people don't see.

Value investors are able to identify securities with unjustifiably low intrinsic worth. This intrinsic worth is predicted by analyzing the fundamentals of a company and this is not seen by the majority of buyers. Warren Buffett essentially trusts that the market will eventually favor the stock he invests in.

Supply and demand do not concern him in the least, although traditionally this is what controls a market. Warren Buffett wants long term returns not capital gains. His famous quote "In the short term the market is a popularity contest; in he long term it is a weighing machine" says it all.

Warren Buffett chooses stocks based on the overall potential of a company to make money as a long term prospect. Capital gain is not what he seeks and all the concerns he has are based on whether or not the company he targets is able to make money.

The relationship between a company's level of excellence and it stock price is integral to any investment opportunity Warren Buffett looks at. He has a series of in-depth questions that he asks himself in order to asses an investment opportunity. He admires companies which avoid excessive debt, and it is relevant to him if a company has a product which is dependent upon commodities. There are also many other considerations, but anyone wanting to invest, would do well to take a page from the book of Warren Buffett.

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