101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway [Paperback]

Robert P. Miles (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471430463 | ISBN-13: 978-0471430469 | Publication Date: April 4, 2003 | Edition: 1st

Discover why the model-investment-firm-turned-household-word is the perfect investment--for virtually anyone
Robert Miles is a successful entrepreneur, business owner, and investor who believes that everyone can be a smarter investor regardless of background, education, and income. In fact Miles says that one investment is ideal for virtually everyone to own--Berkshire-Hathaway. Miles has attended the annual shareholders meeting for years, has met Warren Buffett, and is considered a company "insider" and Berkshire-Hathaway expert. In 101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment, Miles offers his insights into what makes Berkshire-Hathaway so profitable and why shareholders get such value for owning the stock. Among his explanations: Berkshire-Hathaway is run sensibly and frugally by Buffett--there are no lavish corporate head-quarters or extravagant spending by company executives. The company invests in companies it determines will produce steady profits for the shareholders rather than those companies with a history of erratic performance. This accessible, well-researched look at the leading company's investment strategy has received an "unofficial" endorsement by Buffett himself.
Robert P. Miles (Tampa, FL) is an entrepreneur and owns a small business. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Business School, has been an active shareholder of Berkshire-Hathaway for a number of years, and is frequently asked to speak to other investor groups about Buffett.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One day Robert Miles showed up on The Motley Fool's discussion boards as "simpleinvestor" and began a series of posts entitled "101 Reasons to Own Berkshire Hathaway." The result: 101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment. If you've ever considered buying shares of BRK.A or BRK.B, then definitely buy this book. If not, then you might want to consider getting a copy anyway, as Miles clearly demonstrates why Berkshire Hathaway is one of the best investments going. --Harry C. Edwards --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"People that thought Buffett had lost it last year now think he's brilliant". -- USA Today --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (April 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471430463
• ISBN-13: 978-0471430469
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wiley wilts., May 20, 2001

By 

E. Basham (Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (Hardcover)

I first read this book (not knowing at the time that it would be a book) as a series of email articles on the Motley Fool online discussion group. At the time, I appreciated Miles' energy in writing such a long series of articles. Then, as now, occasional thought-provoking nuggets appear within the general background of evangelical enthusiasm. However, there are better books about Berkshire and Buffett.

Spoiling what might have been decent book is the atrocious editing by the publisher, John Wiley. I do not remember ever having read a book that was this poorly edited. While we forgive the mistakes in emails, there is no excuse for a published book to appear with the same sloppiness. Many sentences in the book have to be read repeatedly to decipher what the author is trying to saying.

Like the original email source, Miles holds to a very colloquial style of writing. The problem is that it requires a great amount of effort by the reader to understand what Miles is saying. Commas are randomly strewn among rambling sentences. No apparent effort is made to improve the readability of sentences. Negligence abounds in style and grammar. This book is insulting to the reader, and an embarrassment to Warren Buffett. Don't major publishing houses have grammar checkers (human or otherwise)?

Miles is a businessman with some good opinions and no talent for writing. I do not hold that against him. The mystery is why a prestigious publisher would release a book that had not been edited? Wiley should be embarrassed to be associated with a book of this quality.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rosetta Stone of Investing, May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The World's Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons To Own Berkshire Hathaway (Paperback)

Not often does one have the luxury of someone so clearly defining the investment merits of a company and Robert Miles delivers in spades.

Security analysis and the study of investment theory should hopefully culminate in one finding and understanding the greatest vehicles for investment success. Robert Miles has made the investment process that much easier with his illumination of Berkshire Hathaway. I have probably read 90% of the material ever written by Warren Buffett or about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway and this is as comprehensive as it gets. This is not just a book about Berkshire but a personal journey that identifies and understands the key ingredients of a successful investor. Berkshire Hathaway's outstanding long term performance should lay to rest academia's fascination with the efficient market theory. I believe that any stock investment made should be measured against the returns of Berkshire. This will eliminate many investment mistakes, heartaches and be very rewarding financially.

Robert refers to Warren's annual shareholders letters as the only investment book and advice that you will need. They represent the summit of investment thought from the greatest investor who has ever lived. Geico, Washington Post represent Warren's "ideal" of compounding tax free as long as possible. Shareholder's evidently take Warren's long term buy and hold strategy of stock investing to heart as share turnover in the company is a minuscule 3% a year. Ten thousand dollars invested in Berkshire seventeen years ago would be worth over one million dollars now.

Robert Miles openly shares his failures and triumphs of his 30 year journey of stock investing with the decisive point his investment in Berkshire Hathaway. Ultimately, investing is a reflection of one's character developed over the years and Robert understands the traits of a successful investor and vividly portrays them in this book.

Thanks for the great book Bob.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Get The Buffett Essays, December 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The World's Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons To Own Berkshire Hathaway (Paperback)

Even those who do agree with Buffett's philosophy will find this tough to digest. Unlike what Buffett writes, the writing here is not critical, analytical, thoughtful, or evaluative, but just a love-festing, hero-worshiping, paean of praise without reflection, analysis or explanation. From Buffett's own writings, nicely compiled in The Essays of Warren Buffett published by Cunningham, you get tools to answer hard questions like what is happening with Coke, Disney and Gillette; what's the outlook for Berkshire's insurance companies that have hit a rough patch lately; whether staying out of tech stocks in the era of the New Economy is good or bad for Berkshire; how to think about market prices; how to think about accounting numbers; and so on. Here what you get are just a lot of congratulations to Buffett for having come up with these ideas and explaining them to people.