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Many individual investors have met Robert Miles on the Internet on the Motley Fool bulletin board, where he first explained how he simplified and improved his financial life by purchasing Berkshire Hathaway stock. I met him at an investors seminar in Toronto, Canada, where he told the saga of his new self-published book.
"The World's Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons to Own Berkshire Hathaway" is quickly becoming the "Harry Potter" of investment circles, a rare spontaneous success. It took Miles three and a half months to post his "reasons" on the Motley Fool site, and all the while other investors were responding with suggestions for new reasons or helping him refine what he'd already written.
When the process was done, dozens of readers e-mailed Miles, requesting copies of their own. Miles, who earns his living organizing conventions, printed the book earlier this year. The demand has been so strong that commercial publishers have asked to see the work, and it seems certain there is a book contract in Miles' future.
And for good reason. The book is a work of passion. While Miles uses this device to tell readers why Berkshire Hathaway is such a remarkable investment, the result is a clear, succinct and entertaining guide on how to invest in anything. Miles asks of himself the questions that all investors should be asking. His answers are thought provoking.
"Purchasing a modest hundred shares of BRK.A (Berkshire A-shares ticker symbol) 30 years ago, would have cost less than $1,000 — and would be worth over $7 million today," writes Miles. "Consider this book a $7 million financial lesson. Even if you don’t own Berkshire, the ideas expressed here could be a guideline when choosing to own another investment."
The book drips with an honesty rare in magazines that rely on investment companies for advertising revenues. Such straight answers are uncommon in newspapers, where reporters often depend too heavily on public relations people or financial hucksters, because they lack the expertise or the courage to do otherwise.
As for madly buying and selling securities to improve investment returns, Miles notes, "Active management is an overly sold, under-performing intangible concept. About 90 percent of active management, private and commercial, does not add value in any shape or form."
Miles explains that Warren Buffett is the only individual on the richest Americans lists who achieved his fortune strictly by investing in the stock market. By charging only a modest salary ($100,000 per year) as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has turned hundreds of investors into millionaires and several more into billionaires.
Miles compares Buffett's achievement to that of investment legends Peter Lynch and John Templeton. Lynch and Templeton are good, but they don’t hold up to Buffett's average annual return of 31 percent during his 30-plus years of running Berkshire:
"Mr. Lynch only managed money for 12 years, turned prematurely gray, and retired early. His reported annual rate of return was 29 percent and his fund became the largest mutual fund in the business. His record does not subtract 3 percent to buy the fund and 3 percent annually to pay for the tax consequences. Nor does it reflect the capital gains taxes to sell the fund after he stopped managing money in 1990."
Furthermore, "Mr. Lynch and Fidelity didn’t make their money by picking stocks. Both of them made their personal fortunes by charging a fee to manage the fund."
Templeton, too, has made his fortune from management fees, "And Mr. Templeton has moved offshore to keep his fund management fees from government taxation."
Here is Miles' reason number 59 for buying Berkshire: "Add a zero every eight and half years," which is exactly what an investor can do for a stock that is compounding value at 31 percent annually. Even if Berkshire's share price doesn’t continue to grow at that rate, the prospects are good. Miles explains the beauty of compounding, especially when earnings are tax-free, fee-free and are reinvested:
"Even at a 25 percent annual growth rate you can add a zero to your Berkshire holdings every ten and one-third years. At 20 percent growth, add a zero every twelve and a half years. At a company stated growth rate of 15 percent Berkshire becomes a 10-bagger every 16 and a half years.
"Long term compounded growth with no dividends, no taxes, no transaction costs and no annual fees no matter what the underlying performance. Just a no-cost way for the world's best investor to manage your money just like it was his."
If you don’t want to wait for Miles' book to reach the bookstores, which could take a year or more, you can order it on the Internet at robert.miles@cwix.com. You could also write to Miles at 4532 W. Kennedy Blvd., #275, Tampa, FL, 33609-2042.
The World's Biggest Y2K Party
Do you think San Diego may have problems on New Year’s Eve? Our problems are nothing compared to those expected in Las Vegas as the century draws to a close.
About 800,000 out-of-town party goers are expected in Las Vegas for the New Year’s holiday. The Strip will be closed to vehicles from the Tropicana into town. Most hotels and casinos have warned employees to take no days off between Dec. 15 and Jan. 15. Local authorities are requiring hotels to stock enough nonperishables to feed guests for two days, in case there is an interruption of power, water or other services.
One hotel is meeting the requirement by ordering a mountain of sweet rolls and bagels sealed in little bags. Guests may not like the fare, but they won’t starve to death. Hospitals and emergency service providers have a plan to care for a huge number of patients. One emergency room will handle all heart attacks, another will handle all automobile accidents, and so forth.
Las Vegas is ready for the onslaught, but one question remains. Will the fast-food restaurants on the highway around Victorville and Barstow have enough hamburgers, french fries and sodas to feed the mob of revelers as they surge from California to Nevada, and to subdue them afterward, as hung-over drivers swerve and screech back home? And will there be enough gasoline? That's one more Y2K problem to ponder.
Janet Lowe is author of several investment books, including "Value Investing Made Easy" (McGraw Hill) and "Warren Buffett Speaks" (John Wiley & Sons).
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