Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements

The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage

Mary Buffett, David Clark

• Publisher: Scribner
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9781416573180
• eBook ISBN:
  9781416575955
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Financial Accounting

With an insider's view of the mind of the master, Mary Buffett and David Clark have written a simple, easy-to-follow guide for reading financial statements from Warren Buffett's successful perspective.

Buffett and Clark clearly outline Warren Buffett's strategies in a way that will appeal to newcomers and seasoned Buffettologists alike. Inspired by the seminal work of Buffett's mentor, Benjamin Graham (The Interpretation of Financial Statements, 1937), this book presents Buffett's interpretation of financial statements with anecdotes and quotes from the master investor himself.

Potential investors will discover:

-Buffett's time-tested dos and don'ts for interpreting an income statement and balance sheet

-Why high research and development costs can kill a great business

-How much debt Buffett thinks a company can carry before it becomes too dangerous to touch

-The financial ratios and calculations that Buffett uses to identify the company with a durable competitive advantage—which he believes makes for the winning long-term investment

-How Buffett uses financial statements to value a company

-What kinds of companies Warren stays away from no matter how cheap their selling price

Once readers complete and master Buffett's simple financial calculations and methods for interpreting a company's financial statement, they'll be well on their way to identifying which companies are going to be tomorrow's winners—and which will be the losers they should avoid at all costs.

Destined to become a classic in the world of investment books, Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements is the perfect companion volume to The New Buffettology and The Tao of Warren Buffett.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Two Great Revelations That Made Warren the Richest Person in the World
• Chapter 2: The Kind of Business That Will Make Warren Superrich
• Chapter 3: Where Warren Starts His Search for the Exceptional Company
• Chapter 4: Durability Is Warren’s Ticket to Riches
• Chapter 5: Financial Statement Overview: Where the Gold Is Hidden
• Chapter 6: Where Warren Goes to Find Financial Information
• The Income Statement
• Balance Sheet
• The Cash Flow Statement
• Valuing the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage
• Appendix
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Select Glossary of Terms
• Index
• Copyright