Warren Buffett’s 4-Point
Strategy to Beat the Stock Market
Over the past couple of years, the market has
been rather unpredictable. For
example, who would have thought oil
prices would collapse like they did, or that the market would plunge by nearly
10% during the first six weeks of 2016 only to make it all back and then some?
The point is that nobody knows what’s next
for the market. The S&P 500 index could plunge 20% this year, or it could
reach new record highs just as easily. So the best course of action is to
employ investment principles that
work no matter what, like the four that have been
used by Warren Buffett and his team to produce incredible returns at Berkshire
Hathaway through good times and bad.
Buffett’s
investment goals
When Warren Buffett wrote his 2008 letter to
Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders, investors were justifiably nervous about
what was going on in the economy. Banks were collapsing, the U.S. auto industry
was on the brink of failure, and even rock-solid stocks like Berkshire were
trading at levels not seen in years.
Buffett ensured investors that 2008 was just
another bump in the road, and said that it’s important to keep things in
perspective - especially during the tough times. He pointed out that during the
20th century, Americans’
real standard of living had improved sevenfold, despite two huge wars, the
Great Depression, a period of rapid inflation, and about a dozen other panics
and recessions along the way.
He even went on to say that the economy would
likely be in shambles for several years, but that there was no need to panic.
Berkshire would simply continue to do what it does best by focusing on four
specific goals that boost the company’s long-term potential no matter what the
market is doing this week, this month, or this year.
1. Maintain Berkshire’s
financial position:
No matter what happens, Berkshire maintains
modest to minimal debt levels, lots of liquidity, few near-term obligations,
and lots of income streams. This allows the company to not only absorb any
adverse market conditions, but to come out of the bad times even better off
than it went in. In fact, during the 2008-2009 market turbulence, Berkshire was
a provider of
liquidity to the banking industry, and ended up with some pretty profitable
investments as a result.
2. Widen the moats:
A “wide economic moat” is a Buffett term that
essentially means a durable competitive advantage that should allow a company
to prosper in good times and bad for the foreseeable future, and that makes it
relatively immune to competition. For example, Wal-Mart’s
wide moat consists of its size and distribution network, which allows it to
sell goods at a lower price than any of its competitors. As Wal-Mart’s global
footprint continues to grow, its moat continues to widen.
3. Acquire and develop new
and varied streams of earnings:
Berkshire is always on the lookout for new
acquisitions and investments, in good times and bad. During the financial
crisis, for example, Berkshire acquired a new revenue stream in the form of
Bank of America preferred stock, which came with warrants to buy shares cheaply
down the road. Just recently, Berkshire made its biggest acquisition yet when
it bought Precision Castparts. The point is that Berkshire is always looking to
grow and diversify its revenue stream. While it’s impossible for a company like
Berkshire to grow its profits every single year, varied streams of earnings
allow it to grow its profit potential every year without fail.
4. Focus on good
management:
I can’t emphasize enough how much value
Buffett places on good management. He literally believes that the right
management team can add billions to a business’s intrinsic
value, while the wrong management can make an otherwise good company an
undesirable investment. Therefore, the goal, no matter what the market is
doing, is to always be on the lookout for outstanding managers and to nurture
those who are already part of the organization.
How you can apply these goals to your
own portfolio
While the most obvious way to benefit from
these four investment goals in your portfolio would be to invest in Berkshire Hathaway, that’s not really
my point here (although Berkshire is one of my favorite stocks and makes up a
large portion of my own portfolio).
Rather, the point is that these lessons can
be modified slightly in order to apply them to your own investment strategy:
- Buy stocks with financial flexibility and low debt.
- Identify a durable competitive advantage before buying a stock.
- Don’t worry about what the market is doing now - always be on the lookout for opportunities.
- Investing in companies with shareholder-friendly management can make all the difference over the long run.
Successful implementation of these four goals
has allowed Berkshire to increase its book value during 48 of the past 50 years.
Although the stock price didn’t increase in all 48 of these
years, that wasn’t the goal. Rather, the objective was to set the company up
for long-term market-beating performance, an objective which was clearly
achieved.
You can apply these moves to your own
portfolio.
Source:
time.com/money
