Reading financials
“That’s something we’ve never really talked about publicly, but I actually spend more time looking at balance sheets than income statements. Wall Street often focuses on income statements, but I like to study balance sheets — ideally over an 8 to 10-year period — before I even glance at the income statement. You can’t hide as much on the balance sheet. It’s harder to manipulate than earnings figures”
“you can learn a lot from a balance sheet if you know what to look for — what the figures say, what they don’t say, what management wishes they could say, and what the auditors wouldn’t let them say”
The two questions Buffett asked CEOs:
“Ask them this: ‘If you were stuck on a desert island for 10 years and could only own the stock of one of your competitors, which one would it be — and why?’ Then ask the reverse: ‘If you had to short the stock of one competitor — and stake your net worth on it while you’re away — which one would it be, and why?’ Every manager loves to talk about their competitors. They’re like a bunch of schoolkids when it comes to that. I probably learned more about industries by asking those two questions than through anything else”
on DOGE & the US deficit:
“We’re running roughly a 7% fiscal gap & probably a 3% gap is what’s sustainable. The further you drift from that, the closer you get to the point where it becomes uncontrollable. It’s a job I don’t want — but it’s a job that needs to be done.”
Currency
“The natural course of government is to make the currency worth less over time.”
Whether dictators or democracies—every system eventually debases its currency.
“Some places devalue at breathtaking rates… it’s not evil, it’s just their job.”
"Charlie used to say, if he had to pick an area outside of stocks to invest in …he thought he could make a lot of money in currency. But we’ve only done it once. It’s not inconceivable we’d do it again, but it’s unlikely. "
“Obviously we wouldn’t want to be owning anything that we thought was in a currency that was really going to hell.”
“There could be… Things happen in the United States that… make us want to own a lot of other currencies. I suppose if we made some very large investment [in a] European country… there might be a situation where we would do a lot of financing in their currency.”
Recent market volatility:
“What’s happened in the last 30, 45, 100 days…it’s really nothing. There have been 3 times since we acquired Berkshire when the stock went down 50% over a short period. And in each of those times, nothing was fundamentally wrong with the company. This recent move is not a huge one.”
Some career advice:
"Don’t worry too much about starting salaries. Be very careful about who you work for, because you’ll take on the habits of those around you. Some jobs just aren’t worth it. "
Association
“Who you associate with is enormously important. And don’t expect to make every decision right on that. But your life is going to progress in the general direction of the people you work with, admire, and befriend.”
“You want to hang around people like that — people you feel are better than you — because that’s the direction your life will naturally move toward. That’s something you learn more deeply over time. When you’re younger, it’s hard to fully appreciate just how important that is.”
On emotions and investing:
“The more sophisticated the system gets, the more unpredictable the shocks. That’s part of the stock market. That’s also what makes it a good place to focus your energy if you have the right temperament — and a terrible place to be if you panic when markets go down and celebrate when they go up. I don’t mean to sound critical. I know people are emotional. But when you invest, you have to check those emotions at the door.”
Life today
“Life today is better in almost every way. You’ve got to figure that you started at a pretty lucky spot just by being born when you were. Imagine staying in some cosmic waiting room for hundreds of thousands of years and then getting dropped into the present — not bad timing. So I would focus on what’s been good in your life, rather than what’s gone wrong. Yes, bad things happen — sometimes very bad things. But life can still be wonderful.”
