Trade Like Warren Buffett (Wiley Trading) [Hardcover]

James Altucher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 11, 2005 | Series: Wiley Trading (Book 222)

"Trading is notoriously tough. But Altucher's new book adds a noteworthy addition to the library on Warren Buffett. He shows a lot of Buffett that isn't readily available in the existing common literature. Definitely required reading for any serious Buffett buff."
-Kenneth L. Fisher, Forbes' "Portfolio Strategy" Columnist Founder and CEO, Fisher Investments

"Finally, someone blows apart the myth that Warren Buffett is a buy-and-hold investor. Altucher has given us an insightful and well-written commentary on how Buffett has amassed his track record, and what we can do to emulate him. He details the trade-by-trade examples. This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about how the Master Investor works."
-John Mauldin, author, Bull's Eye Investing editor of Thoughts from the Frontline (www.2000wave.com)

While Warren Buffett is considered the "world's greatest value investor," there's another side to Buffett that is rarely talked about. Although Buffett has gained recognition for his value investing approach to the markets, the fact is that nobody-over the past fifty years-has traded and invested with a more diverse group of strategies than Buffett.

Trade Like Warren Buffett challenges the current coverage of this great investor by including details of all of Buffett's investing and trading methods, including mean reversion, commodities, bonds, arbitrage, market timing, funds, as well as Graham-Dodd. To augment the discussion of each strategy, Trade Like Warren Buffett also includes interviews with leading financial professionals, who reveal in detail how they've successfully used the same techniques.

There is no one way to sum up Warren Buffett's investment style. But if you're interested in boosting the performance of your portfolio, Trade Like Warren Buffett can show you how.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Warren Buffett has had one of the longest and most successful investment careers of all time. While he's considered the "world's greatest value investor," there's another side to Buffett that is not very well known. Although Buffett has gained recognition for his value investing approach to the markets, the fact is that nobody—over the past fifty years—has traded and invested with a more diverse group of strategies than Buffett.

Given the fact that Buffett's investment career has spanned five decades and multiple styles and disciplines, is it possible to Trade Like Warren Buffett? It's impossible to trade exactly like Warren Buffett, but with author James Altucher as your guide, you'll come close.

Trade Like Warren Buffett challenges the current coverage of this great investor by including details of all of Buffett's investing and trading methods, including mean reversion, commodities, bonds, arbitrage, market timing, funds, as well as Graham-Dodd. In addition to the value investing approach, this book discusses other, lesser-known trading strategies and techniques that have helped to make Buffett the greatest investor in history. To augment the discussion of each strategy, Trade Like Warren Buffett also includes interviews with leading financial professionals, who reveal in detail how they've successfully used the same techniques.

Altucher skillfully details Buffett's career and uncovers the paths that led to his success. You'll have a front row seat to the best that Buffett has to offer, including:

• The Early Years: Buffett's hedge fund years, when he built his fortune from essentially nothing to about $25 million
• The Middle Years: During the '70s and '80s, Buffett made the full transition from successful hedge fund manager to operator, asset allocator, and insurance company magnate
• The Later Years: During the '90s and '00s, there was a flight to safety from the dot-com bubble as well as a diversification into bonds, silver, fixed-income arbitrage, and ultimately, foreign currencies

There is no one way to sum up Warren Buffett's investment style. But if you're interested in boosting the performance of your portfolio, taking a page from Warren Buffett is the best way to start.

From the Back Cover

"Trading is notoriously tough. But Altucher's new book adds a noteworthy addition to the library on Warren Buffett. He shows a lot of Buffett that isn't readily available in the existing common literature. Definitely required reading for any serious Buffett buff."
—Kenneth L. Fisher, Forbes' "Portfolio Strategy" Columnist Founder and CEO, Fisher Investments

"Finally, someone blows apart the myth that Warren Buffett is a buy-and-hold investor. Altucher has given us an insightful and well-written commentary on how Buffett has amassed his track record, and what we can do to emulate him. He details the trade-by-trade examples. This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about how the Master Investor works."
—John Mauldin, author, Bull's Eye Investing editor of Thoughts from the Frontline (www.2000wave.com)

While Warren Buffett is considered the "world's greatest value investor," there's another side to Buffett that is rarely talked about. Although Buffett has gained recognition for his value investing approach to the markets, the fact is that nobody—over the past fifty years—has traded and invested with a more diverse group of strategies than Buffett.

Trade Like Warren Buffett challenges the current coverage of this great investor by including details of all of Buffett's investing and trading methods, including mean reversion, commodities, bonds, arbitrage, market timing, funds, as well as Graham-Dodd. To augment the discussion of each strategy, Trade Like Warren Buffett also includes interviews with leading financial professionals, who reveal in detail how they've successfully used the same techniques.

There is no one way to sum up Warren Buffett's investment style. But if you're interested in boosting the performance of your portfolio, Trade Like Warren Buffett can show you how.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471655848
• ISBN-13: 978-0471655848
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Altucher is a writer, successful entrepreneur, chess master, and investor.

He has founded over 20 companies and sold some of them for large exits. He has also run venture capital funds, hedge funds, angel funds, and currently sits on the boards of many companies.

He has written and been profiled in most major national media publications like the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, CNBC, Forbes, and Business Week.

His blog, which began by detailing Altucher's precipitousfall from wealth and success to absolute rock bottom and then back to wealth, has attracted more than 10 million readers since its launch in 2010, and in 2011 inspired a comic book.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful but not Worthless April 21, 2006

By Curt Brandt

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a Finance MBA and Buffettphile and this book barely held my attention. They did a very poor editing job. The numerous errors detract from the work. A lot of "Buffett-like" and "Buffett-style" speculation but not so much Buffett.

The book is lacking in too many areas to illustrate them all. I'll use the chapter on merger arbitrage as an example. Mr Altucher mentions some studies on merger arbitrage and how you can improve your success rate. He completely fails mention Graham's criteria for entering a merger arbitrage transaction as stated in the Intelligent Investor. The criteria are annualized 20% expected return and an estimated success probability of 80% or greater. Buffett probably still uses these. His overall treatment of merger arbitrage is woefully superficial. Anyone can calculate the return on capital if the merger succeeds. How do you determine the expected return on capital if the merger fails? How can you determine the implied probability of success from current market pricing? These and many other critical areas to one who practices merger arbitrage are not discussed.

While the book is not written in sufficient detail to actually be useful, Mr Altucher did cite many academic studies that I am anxious to read when I have the time. Mr Altucher, you got me. You put "Buffett" in the title and I bought the book.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Glad I Bought It March 8, 2005

By E. Brosio

Format:Hardcover

I was first exposed to James Altucher's work on theStreet.com and have always found his articles to be worthwhile. "Trade Like Warren Buffett" is no different. Mr. Altucher's concise observations and comfortable writing style make this book a fun, fast read.

People who have had little exposure to Buffett literature beyond the endless magazine cover stories will see that he is at heart an extremely ambitious and competitive investor who is not above making a quick trade, timing the market or relying at least in part on anecdotal evidence when buying a stock. But even though Mr. Altucher makes short work of the "buy and hold forever" myth that surrounds Buffett, he clearly respects Buffett's prowess and accomplishments. I particularly liked the examination of Buffett's current stock holdings and the stories from his early investing career. And there are a couple of interviews with money managers that provide good perspective.

It was a little frustrating to read about all the investing opportunities that Buffett has taken advantage of over the years but that no longer exist. However, it was also nice to learn that Buffett has made mistakes too.

35 of 47 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Buy Buffettology Instead March 28, 2005

By If Alan Wilder Was An American

Format:Hardcover

This book was rather weak. It touched on alot of interesting topics but often didn't dive into them in detail. It also had interviews with at least 3 people who run mutual and hedge funds that didn't have much to do with Buffett's record itself.

I've read just about all of the books on Buffett out there and this one was not one of the best by far. Buy Buffettology or the New Buffettology. They are far better.