This is the book that all of us that us who love the wit and wisdom of Mr. Munger have been waiting for. It's an absolutely first class production that contains biographical information on Mr. Munger and, most importantly, finally allows all of us to read and study Mr. Munger's works in one volume. As an added bonus Chapter 10 includes new material written by Mr. Munger especially for this book. I strongly recommend that you read and study this book!

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This very well written book follows Mr. Buffett's life, and is the definitive biography of the man, and as such it is a must read for all interested in his path through life. The book clearly explains how (and why) Mr. Buffett is such a special human being and a spectacular investor.

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Mr. Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is the partner/sidekick of Mr. Warren Buffett and is considered the man behind the scenes at Berkshire Hathaway. Charlie is a very entertaining guy, and this book shows why Warren Buffett calls him "one of a kind." Janet Lowe provides readers with an in-depth look at the full and interesting life of Mr. Munger. Many useful lessons on life and investing can be uncovered by a thorough reading of this excellent book.

The book also includes two excellent speeches by Mr. Munger in the appendix: Multidisciplinary Skills: Educational Implications and Practical Thought about Practical Thought?

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A great collection of original writings by Benjamin Graham which were originally published in various formats. The material includes writings, lectures, speeches, and interviews from Mr. Graham that date from the 1930s to the 1970s.

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Mr. Buffett advised shareholders at the 1999 & 2000 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting if he had to pick a single book describing his methods, this would be the one. It is a great tool to use when trying to compile Mr. Buffett's comments on a particular subject since it is organized by subjects he has discussed in his letters over the years. Trying to find all of his comments on a particular subject throughout the annual reports is a time consuming task when you have to look through many years of annual reports. Mr. Cunningham has made this task much simpler with this book.

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The book is organized into three parts with the first covering the question of market efficiency. Mr. Cunningham does a masterful job of describing the pros and cons of the Efficient Market Theory. The second section of the book deals with how an investor can beat the return of the overall stock market. This section contains an impressive and instructive parable of a man who wants to sell his apple tree. The third section of the book deals with corporate governance, an important part of investing since management has such in influence on the direction of the company, its capital allocation procedures, and its core values.

My hat is off to Mr. Cunningham for writing this truly valuable investment manual!

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"Like it or not, most investors are their own worst enemies. They buy only when glowing reports and rumors have bid stocks to outlandish, unsupported price levels; sell only when bad news has left stock prices at or near their bottoms; and ignore reams of independent research and data to bet thousands of dollars on a coworker's hot stock tip."

" Is it any wonder that stock investing, which should represent one of the easiest and most straightforward paths to long-term wealth, has instead become a hotbed of wasted hours, lost opportunities, and outright misery?"

" Lawrence Cunningham's Outsmarting the Smart Money outlines where most investors go wrong and explains how to approach the markets with self-knowledge, intelligence and, most of all, calm. It examines the cognitive biases that afflict most investors, discusses how professional money managers are trained to take advantage of these biases (and the pricing inefficiencies that regularly result), and reveals how investors can help themselves by steering clear of the "smart money" to adopt a long-term, value-oriented investment philosophy. "

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A very interesting examination of the thoughts and ideas of Mr. Charles Munger. UPDATE: I have been advised by the author that this book can be purchased at Hudson Booksellers in Omaha, NE at (402) 345-8676 or jamhross@aol.com.

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"The investigative methods and mental habits of such legendary sleuths as Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin, G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown, and, of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's genius of Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes, deliver new insights to investors."

"Hagstrom shows how Dupin's infallible deductive reasoning, Father Brown's intuitive insight into human nature, and Holmes' prodigious powers of observation provide lessons and techniques for successful investing."

"Both detectives and investors must gather information, analyze the facts logically, sort through conflicting and often unreliable data, and factor in human psychology in order to come to the right conclusion about the perpetrator of a crime or the value of a company's stock. The great detectives don't rely on mere luck or intellectual prowess to solve these puzzles; their mental disciplines can be learned and put into practice by anyone."

"The author brings to life the intellectual principles of his fictional detectives by pairing them with real-life contemporary sleuths such as investigative financial journalists and extraordinary securities analysts. And he illustrates his story with compelling examples from the financial pages: Sunbeam, Dell Computers, AOL, and Microsoft."
"The Detective and The Investor is especially relevant for today's market, when investors need clear heads and cool calculations to cut through marketing hype, suspect accounting, and corporate malfeasance."

"Wall Street professionals and novice investors alike will find its insights fascinating. And so will anyone who loves a good mystery. "

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A good book always makes you think about its particular subject in a new way. Robert Hagstrom's new book, Latticework: The New Investing will definitely have the reader thinking about investing differently. The book develops the notion of combining insights from many different disciplines (biology, physics, and literature to name a few) to develop worldly wisdom.

If the investor develops their own mental models (and understand how the interact with one another) they can develop a competitive advantage over most investors. Mr. Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has endorsed this mental models concept in two separate speeches he has given.

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The Essential Buffett is essentially a contemplation of his previous writings with new sections covering technology stocks, small to mid capitalization stocks, and international stocks.

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Mr. Hagstrom views on portfolio diversification match my own. This book is a great read for all investor who wish to learn more about focus investing. Charles Munger (Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway) describes the book as "a well-written contribution to human thought on the investment process" and recommended that it be read. Charles Munger also described it as a "good book". I can't think of a bigger endorsement coming from him.

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This book provides some details on what Mr. Hagstrom considers Mr. Buffett's investment strategy and stock philosophy to be. The book is written in an easy to follow format. I thought I learned by reading another of Mr. Hagstrom's book, The Warren Buffet Portfolio : Mastering the Power of the Focus Investment Strategy .

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Mr. Train does an exceptional job describing the approaches of these investment masters. Describes how great investors (Benjamin Graham, Philip Fisher, Warren Buffett, Sir John Templeton, and Paul Cabot among others) built their enviable track records.

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Timothy Vick provides us a very good book on value investing, it is an excellent starting place for beginners. I would strongly advise reading this book in addition to the Intelligent Investor and Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. I would especially recommend reading Chapter 14: Assembling a Portfolio: The Subsidiary Approach, as I agree with his excellent diversification views (with the one exception being his "king-of-the hill approach").

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Mr. Vick has once again provided his readers with an excellent treatise on how Mr. Buffett's investment style works. Chapter 18 of the book entitled, Warren's Secret Weapon, is an excellent analysis of how Mr. Buffett used arbitrage opportunities to increase his return when the assets involved were much smaller than what he deals with today. Mr. Vick also does a great job covering many of the focused investing principles. This book is a must read for all investors that have an interest in Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger's investment style.

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This book will provide any information you would like to know concerning Mr. Buffett, his life, and Berkshire Hathaway. It has many great pictures and stories that are near impossible to find elsewhere. Written by a very dedicated Berkshire Hathaway shareholder! Thanks so much Pat for letting him spend his time working on such a useful book.

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I have always had a strong passion for reading biographies. I think what attracts me to them is the lessons that the reader can take away and apply to their own lives. With this interest in mind, combined with my strong interest in Berkshire Hathaway, I eagerly awaited the publication of The Warren Buffett CEO. I was anxious to see what lessons and insights I could learn and apply to my own path through life.

I found the book to be an extremely enjoyable read. It provides a richness of detail and previously unavailable insight on the mangers that make the subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway such a remarkable group of exceptional performers. It was also refreshing to see Mr. Buffett receive credit for being the outstanding manager he truly is. Almost all of the attention he receives focuses on his investment prowess and disregards completely his abilities as a manager. As this book will show you he is simply a tremendous manager who is able to inspire his mangers to continue working to produce results that will make him, and Berkshire shareholders, proud. He is able to achieve this even when the majority of the managers certainly no longer have a financial need to continue working.

Mr. Miles has grown as a writer and has provided us all with an excellent tool that provides many insights into what it takes to be a good manager, the dedication and drive it takes to succeed, and what to focus on when trying to create, and grow, an enduring customer centered business.

Here is a link to a Q&A session with Mr. Miles on the Motley Fool site.

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It is a tribute to the principles that Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger advocate and teach that one of Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders would write a book on reasons why the individual investor should make an investment in that particular company. During a period of history when the normal individual investor is more concerned with where they can make a quick buck and as a result of this mental framework they often have no idea of the history behind (or, in some cases, even what business the company in question is involved in) it is refreshing to read a shareholder's perspective of a company he purchased with a long-term horizon in mind after an intensive analysis of the business.

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"Cogent, honest and hard-hitting -- a must read for every investor." is what Mr. Warren Buffett has to say about this book. It provides us all with a great look at how expensive most mutual funds really are. It also makes us take a long, hard look at mutual fund performance and how expenses can dramatically alter their performance. Mr. Bogle makes a persuasive argument on why the majority of investors would be better off investing solely in index funds.

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This book spells it out on what wealth really is, assets, not income. I believe most people share a common misconception, they think if someone earns $100,000 a year they are wealthy, I say they need to have assets (built by a long term saving and investment plan) behind the income stream. The authors determine that most wealthy people become wealthy by under spending their income in conjunction with a long term saving/investment plan. This book is a must read for all!

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Mr. Chancellor provides us all with a look at the history of speculative manias and the mass delusion that surrounds them. All of us should read this book so we can understand what caused past speculative manias. We need to understand past events so we are not doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

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This very interesting book examines human behavior and identifies how an individuals behavior pattern can affect investing performance. It examines fundamental assumptions that individuals have about the stock markets and describes how these assumptions may prevent you from obtaining bigger returns on your investments.

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"To hide falling profits, some managers ply the flexibility found in accounting principles to alter their financial reports. Others go further and use fraud in their deception. It is vitally important that investors, analysts, and other users of financial statements detect these creative accounting practices as early as possible in order to avoid negative earnings surprises and potential share-price declines. The Financial Numbers Game identifies the steps businesses may take to misstate financial performance and helps its readers to identify those situations where reported results may not be what they seem. Authors Mulford and Comiskey also describe the flexibility built into the GAAP principles and discuss ways companies can take advantage of that flexibility while remaining within the rules of proper reporting. The role of the SEC in enforcing securities laws is explored, as are the specific statutes the SEC uses to prosecute those it deems to have gone too far. The Financial Numbers Game presents an expert analysis of creative accounting procedures, as well as:

• Real-world examples of aggressive and fraudulent financial reports

• What signs to look for in detecting earnings manipulation Ready-made checklists for detecting accounting misdeeds

• Advice from such experts as analysts, CFOs, and CPAs

• Help for anyone interested in understanding true financial performance

The Financial Numbers Game offers all users of financial statements a comprehensive resource for understanding, detecting, and avoiding the vast assortment of creative accounting techniques found in practice today."

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Have you often wondered how to determine what a company is really earning after taking into account all the special, non-recurring (though it may seem that companies take these charges yearly) charges that companies seem to have taken so many of lately. If you think of yourself as a serious investor who thinks it is worthwhile to understand what earnings a company is really making this book is a must read! It also provides useful examples based on real company financial statements which aid in understanding the concepts being covered.

" Due to the intricacies of contemporary business transactions, the numerous standards issued by the FASB, and the many and varied accounting and disclosure practices and differences in terminology employed by reporting companies, financial statements and related disclosures have become very complex. This complexity can impede the work performed and the decisions reached by all users of financial statements, and especially the book's primary audience--equity and credit analysts. This book is designed to be the practical guide analysts need for accurate financial reporting and analysis."

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This book is very similar to the author's other book Guide to Financial Reporting and Analysis which has more updated examples.

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"Financial Shenanigans, 2nd Edition, helps you fight fire with fire, giving you the state-of-the-art weapons you need to identify warnings of a company's problems before earnings come out and the damage becomes irreversible. Detailing the seven fundamental tricks that companies have used to fool auditors and investors for decades, yet providing updated information and techniques on how these shenanigans are being used in today's technologically advanced, financially savvy investment world, this fast-paced book provides updated explanations of how anyone can uncover and sidestep:"

* Revenue tricks­­Side agreements lacking economic substance, investment income listed as revenue, release of revenue improperly "held back" before a merger, and more

* Expense traps­­Shifting of current expenses to an earlier period, costs amortized too slowly, impaired assets not written down, and others

* Liability scams­­Failure to record expenses and their related obligations, creation of sham rebates, reducing liabilities by changing accounting assumptions, and more

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Mr. Greenberg's wisdom is revealed in this humorous look at how to manage a business. Mr. Buffett wrote the foreword to this book. In the foreword he says, "Haimchinkel (His designated Oracle on earth is Ace) is my kind of guy-cheap, smart, opinionated.... I now slavishly follow and preach his principles". I must confess that I want to be defined as a PSD (Poor, Smart with a Deep Desire to Become Rich).

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This excellent book has it all, it's humorous and packed full of useful information for the potential investor to digest. The author goes into some detail on the different types of arbitrage activities an investor could potentially profit from while also providing real life examples of the situations he is referencing. This book is required reading for anyone interested in exploring arbitrage activities. I heartily recommend his book to all investors.

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What is the difference between investing and luck? How does randomness come into play in investing and in life? The author provides answers to these questions and more in this book. He attempts to persuade the reader to examine issues more closely while trying to resist "being fooled by randomness". He states that the book "is about luck disguised and perceived as non-randomness."

The author advocates not chasing the latest investment fad or fashion, not looking at your investments very often, and being open to both sides of any idea because the idea could go wrong as well as right. He further urges that the reader should also examine what the consequences of either outcome could be.

Another interesting theme the author touches on occurs when he stresses that it is very difficult to determine a lucky or successful investor by looking at the result achieved during that short time span as they could possibly have been achieved through luck.

I found the book refreshing, humorous at times, and capable of making me examine familiar topics in a new manner.

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The publisher, John Wiley & Sons states:

"To what degree should we rely on our past to determine our future? This riveting book describes how the rational process of risk taking propelled the progress of science and enterprise into the modern world of speed, power, instant communication, and sophisticated finance. Risk management is now an indispensable skill whose applications range from allocating wealth through planning a family to wearing a seatbelt. Drawing upon history and biography to trace the development of its concepts, the author explains the origin of risk management--the basics of probability, sampling, regression to the mean, game theory, and rational versus irrational decision making. Bernstein introduces complex concepts via an accessible, entertaining narrative between the great minds behind the ideas. Against the Gods features the epic quests and questions of great thinkers such as Pascal, Fermat and von Neumann who have embarked on a reworkable adventure of intellectual discovery, proving that the future is more than just the whim of the gods, that men and women are not passive before nature."

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Inside Flap Copy:

"Described by the New York Times as the "guru to Wall Street’s gurus," Bruce Greenwald is a leading authority on value investing. His courses and seminars on the subject have drawn some of the savviest people in the investment world. Now, along with some colleagues, Greenwald reveals the fundamental principles that have made value investing one of the most consistently profitable investment techniques."

"In an investment world frequently blinded by excessive optimism, short-term speculation, and other practices ranging from unsound to downright shady, value investing remains a reliable discipline even as it moves into a new century. Built on the works of Benjamin Graham, the father of security analysis, value investing is based on the premise that the underlying value of a financial security is measurable and stable, even though the market price fluctuates widely. The core of value investing is to buy securities when their market prices are significantly below their intrinsic values. Graham called the gap between price and value the "margin of safety." A large margin of safety both increases the potential return and reduces the risk of loss."

"In Value Investing, the authors enrich the discipline by exploring its history, explaining its underlying principles, and setting guidelines for its successful application. The book covers such indispensable issues as:

1. Where to look for underpriced securities

2. How to determine the intrinsic value of a stock

3. Alternative methods for constructing a portfolio that control risk without restricting investment returns

"After discussing the basis of value investing, the book describes the proven techniques of some of the greatest value investors in history, including Warren Buffett, Walter Schloss, Mario Gabelli, and Michael Price."

"By adapting Graham’s strategies to accommodate new investment climates, each has contributed a distinctive thread to make the discipline of value investing stronger and more flexible. "

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I believe all of us would agree that GAAP in its current form has many problems accurately reporting the truth regarding a company's financial picture to the users of financial statements. An excellent book entitled "Quality Financial Reporting" should be required reading for all focus investors as it provides an impressive overview of what is wrong with GAAP, why FASB has been unable to function properly, and suggests possible solutions.

The authors are straight shooters and as such I think they will find no friends among the accounting "establishment" but they certainly point out the flaws in GAAP thereby helping focus investors better understand the financial statements they are examining.

"Accounting is the language of business. This book is a step toward restoring its usefulness. " Warren Buffett

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"It's a fascinating book." - Warren Buffett, 1994 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting.

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