Common stocks and common sense : the strategies, analyses, decisions, and emotions of a particularly successful value investor

Introduction ix 1 My Approach to Investing 1 2 The Brief Story of My Life 17 3 IBM 31 Successful investing is about predicting the future more accurately than the majority of other investors
we predict a change in IBM s cost structure. 4 Interstate Bakeries 49 Successful investing often is heavily dependent on the capabilities and incentives of corporate leadership. 5 U.S. Home Corporation 63 Investors can become frustrated when their swans are priced as if they are ugly ducks. 6 Centex 67 Large profits can be earned by successfully predicting a major positive change in the fundamentals of a company or an industry. 7 Union Pacific 79 Investors often do not adequately differentiate between short-term discrete problems and long-term systemic weaknesses. 8 American International Group 91 I went to bed with Miss America and woke up with a witch
this can happen to even the most careful of investors. 9 Lowe s 101 Using common-sense logic, we conclude there is a high probability that the U.S. housing market will improve markedly in the near future
investing is logical and probabilistic. 10 Whirlpool 113 We conclude that the company s earnings and share price are being depressed by cyclically low demand for appliances and by abnormally high costs for raw materials
successful investors should purchase their straw hats in winter. 11 Boeing 133 Opportunities can occur when great companies develop temporary problems. 12 Southwest Airlines 153 When tight markets lead to sharply higher prices for goods or services, earnings and share prices can become buoyant, even for normally unattractive businesses 13 Goldman Sachs 165 Large profits can be earned when perceptions temporarily differ from realities. 14 A Letter to Jack Elgart 181 A letter that summarizes my approach to investing and that includes a number of do s and don ts that I found useful in my career. About the Author 193 Index 195