Even Buffett Isn't Perfect: What You Can--and Can't--Learn from the World's Greatest Investor (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Steve Forbes (Foreword)
Key Phrases: low price multiples, earnings guidance, expensing options, Even Buffett Isn't Perfect, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his introduction, Janjigian notes that to become a successful investor you must be an educated investor, and the best place to start is by examining Buffett's strategies. The author—vice president and executive director of the Forbes Investors Advisory Institute—doggedly follows Buffett's investment trail, scrutinizing the successes and failures of the world's pre-eminent investment celebrity. Janjigian's readable, engaging style carries the reader painlessly through the fundamentals and finer points of investing, assaying Buffett's buying strategies and research methods, while clarifying investment terms and summarizing key points. Although frankly admiring, Janjigian is never fawning and takes pains to make his material clear and compelling; his book is a rounded evaluation of the investment guru's strategies and a useful primer for business neophytes. (May)
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From Booklist

It’s refreshing to encounter a title about world-famous investment wizard Warren Buffett that doesn’t paint him as a superhero. Despite his many successes, Buffett has made mistakes and not always taken the right steps, as recounted in this measured, objective account that scrutinizes Buffett’s techniques and presents investment fundamentals and strategies. Unfortunately, Casella’s reading is somewhat lackluster. His careful, almost phonetic enunciation of some phrases and sentences makes it seem as if he is seeing the text for the first time. Although monotonous might be too strong a word, his performance could use a little more spark. Casual listeners may tune out, but those who stick with this “penetrating look at Buffett” will gain insight into the respected businessman and learn more about investment strategies. --David Pitt --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591841968
• ISBN-13: 978-1591841968
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #248,721 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Buffett, May 16, 2008

By	Digestive Biscuit (New York City) - See all my reviews

The title is kind of a misnomer. True that the author points out some of Buffett's investment mistakes. He also highlights what seem to be inconsistencies in the investment guru's approach. Yet the author never attacks the man directly. And he actually rains proper praise for all of the things Buffett's done right. To me it showed that everyone is human and prone to mistakes. As the author puts it, it's Buffett's ability to minimize mistakes while maximizing his successes that's truly made him a star.

Another aspect of the book I found to be more than a pleasant surprise was just how level-headed it was. Having read a number of investment-themed books, I can be sure that all good ones will present a heavy dose of what I like to call "financial science". Given that most investment strategies are based on some foundation of financial theory, this makes sense. But while many of these can get a bit too technical, the author does a good job of communicating relevant concepts without requiring the reader to have a degree in finance. Indeed, I initially cringed when he brought up the concept of correlation coefficient -- two words many of us probably haven't heard since high school. But his explanation of this and other important concepts were very easy to follow and rooted in common sense. He also doesn't inundate you with these concepts, only focusing on those that are required to help understand how Buffett invests and why it has worked so well for so long.

I enjoyed all of the chapters and felt the final ones -- which criticize Buffett's views on a few key issues such as taxes, corporate governance, and earnings guidance -- were especially well argued. However, my favorite, and perhaps most sobering, part of the book was when Dr. Janjigian distinguishes between business buyers and stock buyers. Specifically, he notes that while Buffett falls into the former category, most individual investors are stuck in the latter. This key distinction -- more than any other -- is the reason we realistically should not hope to duplicate Buffett's success. This was a refreshing change from so many other books that simply praise Buffett as an investment genius and suggests "foolproof" strategies that you can use to mirror his success. This author, too, has praise for the man. But he is very frank on how Buffett has made and maintained his fortune, and educates the reader on what is realistically possible when it comes to learning from the "World's Greatest Investor".

A very enjoyable read all around. I'd strongly recommended to anyone looking to for honest insight on Buffett, as well as, to anyone simply looking for a nice, easy to follow book on investing. You won't be disappointed.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buffett May Not Be, But Janjigian Is, July 1, 2008

By	Jon Weiman (Randolph, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Vahan Janjigian is eminently qualified to write a book on Warren Buffett. To those who have misunderstood the title; it is meant to be ironic.
The book is a well researched and very informative analysis of Warren Buffet's success as well as a detailed explanation of various investment strategies. The language in the book is both erudite and colloquial in tone; and gives one the sense that the author is very comfortable writing on this subject. It reveals not only that Warren Buffet has, over the years, managed to be a world class investor by utilizing his research, instincts, judgment and patience; but that his refusal to bend to market trends has made him an outstanding long term builder of wealth.
The author's unique way of explaining both the academic aspects of the Buffett formula and using more common language, at times, to give a more baseline understanding of Buffet's success, make the book a highly readable text. I recommend it highly.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent Reading for Smart Investing, August 18, 2008

By	- EP (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

Congratulations to Mr. Janjigian for writing a book that not only does a great job in discussing Buffett's investment styles, but also and more importantly communicating the key investment concepts that individual investors should be aware of, in a very easy to understand manner. While there have been many, more detailed books written on Buffett's investment approach, I think Vahan effectively uses the different investment approaches employed by Buffett to highlight and to some extent caution individual investors who attempt to emulate Buffett by stating that what might be good for large long term investors like Buffett (who have access to top level managements), may not necessarily be true for individual stock investors. An investor like Buffett can make big concentrated bets based on his understanding of management and management's strategies, something that an individual stock investor may lack as a function of limited/no access to top level managements.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain a good understanding of the basic and key investment concepts, and I would recommend that colleges handout this book to incoming students in order to educate them with the basics of sound investing principles. I sincerely hope that this book is the first in many more to come!