1. Reinvest Your Profits: When you first make money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don't. Instead, reinvest the profits. Warren Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a pal bought a pinball machine to pun in a barbershop. With the money they earned, they bought more machines until they had eight in different shops. When the friends sold the venture, Warren Buffett used the proceeds to buy stocks and to start another small business. By age 26, he'd amassed $174,000 -- or $1.4 million in today's money. Even a small sum can turn into great wealth.
2. Be Willing To Be Different: Don't base your decisions upon what everyone is saying or doing. When Warren Buffett began managing money in 1956 with $100,000 cobbled together from a handful of investors, he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, not Wall Street, and he refused to tell his parents where he was putting their money. People predicted that he'd fail, but when he closed his partnership 14 years later, it was worth more than $100 million. Instead of following the crowd, he looked for undervalued investments and ended up vastly beating the market average every single year. To Warren Buffett, the average is just that -- what everybody else is doing. to be above average, you need to measure yourself by what he calls the Inner Scorecard, judging yourself by your own standards and not the world's.
3. Never Suck Your Thumb: Gather in advance any information you need to make a decision, and ask a friend or relative to make sure that you stick to a deadline. Warren Buffett prides himself on swiftly making up his mind and acting on it. He calls any unnecessary sitting and thinking "thumb sucking." When people offer him a business or an investment, he says, "I won't talk unless they bring me a price." He gives them an answer on the spot.
4. Spell Out The Deal Before You Start: Your bargaining leverage is always greatest before you begin a job -- that's when you have something to offer that the other party wants. Warren Buffett learned this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Ernest hired him and a friend to dig out the family grocery store after a blizzard. The boys spent five hours shoveling until they could barely straighten their frozen hands. Afterward, his grandfather gave the pair less than 90 cents to split. Warren Buffett was horrified that he performed such backbreaking work only to earn pennies an hour. Always nail down the specifics of a deal in advance -- even with your friends and relatives.
5. Watch Small Expenses: Warren Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He one acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only on the side of his office building that faced the road. Exercising vigilance over every expense can make your profits -- and your paycheck -- go much further.
6. Limit What You Borrow: Living on credit cards and loans won't make you rich. Warren Buffett has never borrowed a significant amount -- not to invest, not for a mortgage. He has gotten many heart-rendering letters from people who thought their borrowing was manageable but became overwhelmed by debt. His advice: Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you're debt-free, work on saving some money that you can use to invest.
7. Be Persistent: With tenacity and ingenuity, you can win against a more established competitor. Warren Buffett acquired the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 because he liked the way its founder, Rose Blumkin, did business. A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless negotiator. To Warren Buffett, Rose embodied the unwavering courage that makes a winner out of an underdog.
8. Know When To Quit: Once, when Warren Buffett was a teen, he went to the racetrack. He bet on a race and lost. To recoup his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again, leaving him with close to nothing. He felt sick -- he had squandered nearly a week's earnings. Warren Buffett never repeated that mistake. Know when to walk away from a loss, and don't let anxiety fool you into trying again.
9. Assess The Risk: In 1995, the employer of Warren Buffett's son, Howie, was accused by the FBI of price-fixing. Warren Buffett advised Howie to imagine the worst-and-bast-case scenarios if he stayed with the company. His son quickly realized that the risks of staying far outweighed any potential gains, and he quit the next day. Asking yourself "and then what?" can help you see all of the possible consequences when you're struggling to make a decision -- and can guide you to the smartest choice.
10. Know What Success Really Means: Despite his wealth, Warren Buffett does not measure success by dollars. In 2006, he pledged to give away almost his entire fortune to charities, primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He's adamant about not funding monuments to himself -- no Warren Buffett buildings or halls. "I know people who have a lot of money," he says, "and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. When you get to my age, you'll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. That's the ultimate test of how you've lived your life."
AdBrite
AdBrite
Showing posts with label Warren Buffett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warren Buffett. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Online auction to have lunch with Warren Buffett
OMAHA, Neb. — One of the most expensive steak lunches you can bid for goes online later this month, courtesy of billionaire Warren Buffett.
But given the ongoing recession, it’s uncertain whether lunch with Buffett will top last year’s winning bid of $2.1 million from a Chinese investment fund manager.
Buffett, who is known for his investing success, is Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and chief executive. He offers only one charity lunch a year.
All of the online auction’s proceeds go to the Glide Foundation, which provides social services to the poor and homeless in San Francisco.
The bidding starts at $25,000 on June 21, and the auction runs until 9 p.m. CDT on June 26. The winner can take up to seven friends to lunch at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York.
by the associated press
But given the ongoing recession, it’s uncertain whether lunch with Buffett will top last year’s winning bid of $2.1 million from a Chinese investment fund manager.
Buffett, who is known for his investing success, is Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and chief executive. He offers only one charity lunch a year.
All of the online auction’s proceeds go to the Glide Foundation, which provides social services to the poor and homeless in San Francisco.
The bidding starts at $25,000 on June 21, and the auction runs until 9 p.m. CDT on June 26. The winner can take up to seven friends to lunch at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York.
by the associated press
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Asia consider bank for nuclear plant fuel
VIENNA — Buffett’s bankroll, Obama’s clout and the partnership of a savvy ex-Soviet strongman may turn the steppes of central Asia into a nuclear mecca, a go-to place for "safe” uranium fuel in an increasingly nervous atomic age.
The $150 million idea, with seed money from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, must still navigate the tricky maze of global nuclear politics, along with a parallel Russian plan. But the notion of such fuel banks is rising on the world’s agenda as a way to keep ultimate weapons out of more hands.
Decisions may come as early as next month here in Vienna.
The half-century-old vision, to establish international control over the technology fueling atom bombs, was resurrected in 2003, when Iran alarmed many by announcing it would develop fuel installations — for nuclear power, it insisted. Mohamed ElBaradei, U.N. nuclear chief, then said the time had come to "multinationalize” the technology, to stop its spread to individual countries.
For nukes or power?
Last month, the new U.S. president gave the idea its biggest boost.
In a historic speech to tens of thousands in Prague, the Czech capital, Barack Obama detailed an aggressive plan for arms control, including setting up an international fuel bank, "so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation.”
That’s the fear: the centrifuges that enrich uranium to produce power-plant fuel can be left spinning to enrich it much more, producing highly enriched uranium for nuclear bombs.
Only a dozen nations have enrichment plants, but ElBaradei’s Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) foresees nuclear-power use almost doubling in the next 20 years. More and more governments may want the fuel-making capability, as well.
"The real risk is that highly enriched uranium could be acquired by, say, terrorist groups,” Russian government adviser Alexander Konovalov told a conference in Rome on nuclear dangers. "All they need is 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of enriched uranium. All the rest (to make a bomb) can be found on the Internet.”
The IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors is expected to address the issue at its June meeting.
A raft of proposals has surfaced, including a German idea to build an IAEA enrichment plant on "internationalized” soil somewhere, to sell fuel to countries committed to nuclear nonproliferation.
"Assurance” is the byword — a desire to assure nations like Iran that there won’t be future politically motivated cutoffs of nuclear fuel supplies, and so they needn’t build, at huge cost, their own enrichment plants.
One plan grows legs
Only one proposal has upfront money behind it, however — the idea that’s been advanced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a Washington-based organization founded by philanthropist Ted Turner and former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn.
Calling it an "investment in a safer world,” investor and NTI adviser Buffett, considered America’s richest man, pledged $50 million to such a bank, provided governments put up an additional $100 million. That threshold was passed in March, with most of the money coming from the U.S. and the European Union.
The $150 million would buy enough low-enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt power plant, jump-starting a constantly replenished fuel stockpile that would be owned and sold by the IAEA at market prices and on a nondiscriminatory basis.
by the associated press
The $150 million idea, with seed money from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, must still navigate the tricky maze of global nuclear politics, along with a parallel Russian plan. But the notion of such fuel banks is rising on the world’s agenda as a way to keep ultimate weapons out of more hands.
Decisions may come as early as next month here in Vienna.
The half-century-old vision, to establish international control over the technology fueling atom bombs, was resurrected in 2003, when Iran alarmed many by announcing it would develop fuel installations — for nuclear power, it insisted. Mohamed ElBaradei, U.N. nuclear chief, then said the time had come to "multinationalize” the technology, to stop its spread to individual countries.
For nukes or power?
Last month, the new U.S. president gave the idea its biggest boost.
In a historic speech to tens of thousands in Prague, the Czech capital, Barack Obama detailed an aggressive plan for arms control, including setting up an international fuel bank, "so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation.”
That’s the fear: the centrifuges that enrich uranium to produce power-plant fuel can be left spinning to enrich it much more, producing highly enriched uranium for nuclear bombs.
Only a dozen nations have enrichment plants, but ElBaradei’s Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) foresees nuclear-power use almost doubling in the next 20 years. More and more governments may want the fuel-making capability, as well.
"The real risk is that highly enriched uranium could be acquired by, say, terrorist groups,” Russian government adviser Alexander Konovalov told a conference in Rome on nuclear dangers. "All they need is 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of enriched uranium. All the rest (to make a bomb) can be found on the Internet.”
The IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors is expected to address the issue at its June meeting.
A raft of proposals has surfaced, including a German idea to build an IAEA enrichment plant on "internationalized” soil somewhere, to sell fuel to countries committed to nuclear nonproliferation.
"Assurance” is the byword — a desire to assure nations like Iran that there won’t be future politically motivated cutoffs of nuclear fuel supplies, and so they needn’t build, at huge cost, their own enrichment plants.
One plan grows legs
Only one proposal has upfront money behind it, however — the idea that’s been advanced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a Washington-based organization founded by philanthropist Ted Turner and former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn.
Calling it an "investment in a safer world,” investor and NTI adviser Buffett, considered America’s richest man, pledged $50 million to such a bank, provided governments put up an additional $100 million. That threshold was passed in March, with most of the money coming from the U.S. and the European Union.
The $150 million would buy enough low-enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt power plant, jump-starting a constantly replenished fuel stockpile that would be owned and sold by the IAEA at market prices and on a nondiscriminatory basis.
by the associated press
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I-house gives industrial-chic plan
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — From its bamboo floors to its rooftop deck, Clayton Homes’ new industrial-chic "i-house” is about as far removed from a mobile home as an iPod from a record player.
Architects at the country’s largest manufactured home company embraced the basic rectangular form of what began as housing on wheels and gave it a postmodern turn with a distinctive v-shaped roofline, energy efficiency and luxury appointments.
Stylistically, the "i-house” might be more at home in the pages of a cutting-edge architectural magazine such as Dwell — an inspirational source — than among the Cape Cods and ranchers in the suburbs.
The layout of the long main "core” house and a separate box-shaped guestroom-office "flex room” resemble the letter "i” and its dot. Yet Clayton CEO and President Kevin Clayton said "i-house” stands for more than its footprint.
With a nod to the iPod and iPhone, Clayton said, "We love what it represents. We are fans of Apple and all that they have done. But the ‘I’ stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration.”
Clayton’s "i-house” was conceived as a moderately priced "plug and play” dwelling for environmentally conscious homebuyers. It went on sale nationwide Saturday with its presentation at the annual shareholders’ meeting of investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.
"This innovative ‘green’ home, featuring solar panels and numerous other energy-saving products, is truly a home of the future,” Buffett wrote his shareholders. "Estimated costs for electricity and heating total only about $1 per day when the home is sited in an area like Omaha.”
Maryville, Tenn.-based Clayton Homes, acquired by Berkshire-Hathaway in a $1.7 billion buyout in 2003, delivered 27,499 mobile or manufactured homes last year, a third of the industry total. Kevin Clayton thinks the "i-house” very quickly could represent more than 10 percent of its business.
"I think in 12 to 18 months it is possible,” he told The Associated Press. "That is a lofty goal, but it is very possible. Retailers are saying they want the home on their lots tomorrow. I know the demand is there. How fast we capture it is really just determined by how affordable we can make it.”
Clayton Homes plans to price the "i-house” at $100 to $130 a square foot, depending on amenities and add-ons, such as additional bedrooms. A stick-built house with similar features could range from $200 to $300 a square foot to start, said Chris Nicely, Clayton marketing vice president.
The key cost difference is from the savings Clayton achieves by building homes in volume in green standardized factories with very little waste. Clayton has four plants in Oregon, Tennessee, California and New Mexico geared up for "i-house” production.
A 1,000-square-foot prototype unveiled at a Clayton show in Knoxville a few months ago was priced at around $140,000. It came furnished, with a master bedroom, full bath, open kitchen and living room with Ikea cabinetry, two ground-level deck areas and a separate "flex room” with a second full bath and a second-story deck covered by a sail-like canopy.
"It does not look like your typical manufactured home,” said Thayer Long with the Manufactured Housing Institute, a Washington-based group representing 370 manufactured and modular home-building companies.
And shattering those mobile home stereotypes is a good thing, he said. "I think the ‘i-house’ is just more proof that the industry is capable of delivering homes that are highly customizable at an affordable price.”
The "i-house’s” metal v-shaped roof — inspired by a gas-station awning — combines design with function.
The roof provides a rain water catchment system for recycling, supports flush-mounted solar panels and vaults interior ceilings at each end to 10
feet for an added feeling of openness.
The Energy Star-rated design features heavy insulation, six-inch thick exterior walls, cement board and corrugated metal siding, energy efficient appliances, a tankless water heater, dual-flush toilets and lots of "low-e” glazed windows.
The final product will come in different exterior colors and will allow buyers to design online, adding another bedroom to the core house, a second bedroom to the flex room or rearranging the footprint to resemble an "L” instead of an "I.”
"We thought of this a little like a kit of parts, where you have all these parts that can go together in different ways,” said Andy Hutsell, one of the architects.
by the associated press
Architects at the country’s largest manufactured home company embraced the basic rectangular form of what began as housing on wheels and gave it a postmodern turn with a distinctive v-shaped roofline, energy efficiency and luxury appointments.
Stylistically, the "i-house” might be more at home in the pages of a cutting-edge architectural magazine such as Dwell — an inspirational source — than among the Cape Cods and ranchers in the suburbs.
The layout of the long main "core” house and a separate box-shaped guestroom-office "flex room” resemble the letter "i” and its dot. Yet Clayton CEO and President Kevin Clayton said "i-house” stands for more than its footprint.
With a nod to the iPod and iPhone, Clayton said, "We love what it represents. We are fans of Apple and all that they have done. But the ‘I’ stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration.”
Clayton’s "i-house” was conceived as a moderately priced "plug and play” dwelling for environmentally conscious homebuyers. It went on sale nationwide Saturday with its presentation at the annual shareholders’ meeting of investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.
"This innovative ‘green’ home, featuring solar panels and numerous other energy-saving products, is truly a home of the future,” Buffett wrote his shareholders. "Estimated costs for electricity and heating total only about $1 per day when the home is sited in an area like Omaha.”
Maryville, Tenn.-based Clayton Homes, acquired by Berkshire-Hathaway in a $1.7 billion buyout in 2003, delivered 27,499 mobile or manufactured homes last year, a third of the industry total. Kevin Clayton thinks the "i-house” very quickly could represent more than 10 percent of its business.
"I think in 12 to 18 months it is possible,” he told The Associated Press. "That is a lofty goal, but it is very possible. Retailers are saying they want the home on their lots tomorrow. I know the demand is there. How fast we capture it is really just determined by how affordable we can make it.”
Clayton Homes plans to price the "i-house” at $100 to $130 a square foot, depending on amenities and add-ons, such as additional bedrooms. A stick-built house with similar features could range from $200 to $300 a square foot to start, said Chris Nicely, Clayton marketing vice president.
The key cost difference is from the savings Clayton achieves by building homes in volume in green standardized factories with very little waste. Clayton has four plants in Oregon, Tennessee, California and New Mexico geared up for "i-house” production.
A 1,000-square-foot prototype unveiled at a Clayton show in Knoxville a few months ago was priced at around $140,000. It came furnished, with a master bedroom, full bath, open kitchen and living room with Ikea cabinetry, two ground-level deck areas and a separate "flex room” with a second full bath and a second-story deck covered by a sail-like canopy.
"It does not look like your typical manufactured home,” said Thayer Long with the Manufactured Housing Institute, a Washington-based group representing 370 manufactured and modular home-building companies.
And shattering those mobile home stereotypes is a good thing, he said. "I think the ‘i-house’ is just more proof that the industry is capable of delivering homes that are highly customizable at an affordable price.”
The "i-house’s” metal v-shaped roof — inspired by a gas-station awning — combines design with function.
The roof provides a rain water catchment system for recycling, supports flush-mounted solar panels and vaults interior ceilings at each end to 10
feet for an added feeling of openness.
The Energy Star-rated design features heavy insulation, six-inch thick exterior walls, cement board and corrugated metal siding, energy efficient appliances, a tankless water heater, dual-flush toilets and lots of "low-e” glazed windows.
The final product will come in different exterior colors and will allow buyers to design online, adding another bedroom to the core house, a second bedroom to the flex room or rearranging the footprint to resemble an "L” instead of an "I.”
"We thought of this a little like a kit of parts, where you have all these parts that can go together in different ways,” said Andy Hutsell, one of the architects.
by the associated press
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Berkshire's meeting will Focus on Economy's future
OMAHA, Neb. — The past year’s economic turmoil will provide plenty to talk about at this weekend’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders meeting.
More than 30,000 people are expected in Omaha on Saturday to listen to the company’s top two executives, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, answer questions about the recession and Berkshire’s largely unrealized investment losses.
Shareholders will also vote on a proposal that would require the company to produce a sustainability report.
Buffett has made headlines in the past year with his views on the economy, including that the U.S. is engaged in an "economic Pearl Harbor.”
And Buffett’s Omaha-based company suffered its worst year since he took over in 1965.
Berkshire’s Class A stock lost 32 percent in 2008, and Berkshire’s book value — assets minus liabilities — declined 9.6 percent, to $70,530 per share.
But despite Berkshire’s rough year — which was depressed by unrealized multibillion-dollar derivative losses — the company still outpaced the market index Buffett uses as a measuring stick. The S&P 500 fell 37 percent in 2008.
Berkshire still reported a 2008 profit of $4.99 billion, or $3,224 per Class A share. That was down 62 percent from the previous year, but better than many companies.
"This market meltdown has provided the opportunity for him to put the finishing touches on his Berkshire Hathaway masterpiece,” said analyst Justin Fuller, who works with Midway Capital Research & Management.
by the associated press
More than 30,000 people are expected in Omaha on Saturday to listen to the company’s top two executives, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, answer questions about the recession and Berkshire’s largely unrealized investment losses.
Shareholders will also vote on a proposal that would require the company to produce a sustainability report.
Buffett has made headlines in the past year with his views on the economy, including that the U.S. is engaged in an "economic Pearl Harbor.”
And Buffett’s Omaha-based company suffered its worst year since he took over in 1965.
Berkshire’s Class A stock lost 32 percent in 2008, and Berkshire’s book value — assets minus liabilities — declined 9.6 percent, to $70,530 per share.
But despite Berkshire’s rough year — which was depressed by unrealized multibillion-dollar derivative losses — the company still outpaced the market index Buffett uses as a measuring stick. The S&P 500 fell 37 percent in 2008.
Berkshire still reported a 2008 profit of $4.99 billion, or $3,224 per Class A share. That was down 62 percent from the previous year, but better than many companies.
"This market meltdown has provided the opportunity for him to put the finishing touches on his Berkshire Hathaway masterpiece,” said analyst Justin Fuller, who works with Midway Capital Research & Management.
by the associated press
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Helzberg Official Quits
Berkshire Hathaway Inc, says the cheif executive of its Helzberg Diamonds unit has resigned , but Warren Buffet's company didnot say why .
Berkshire said in a statement that Marvin Beasley decided to resign effective Monday .
He will be succeeded by Berly Raff , who had been managing JC Penney Co , Inc's Jewerly divison . Berkshire Cheif Executive and Chairman Buffet said in the statement that Raff will bring merchandising instint and analytical sharpness to the job.
wire reports
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)