Warren Buffett's Timeless Wisdom from 50 Years Ago

Warren Buffett, 1976 Berkshire Hathaway annual letter: >You will notice that our major equity holdings are relatively few. We select such investments on a long-term basis, weighing the same factors as would be involved in the purchase of 100% of an operating business: (1) **favorable long-term economic characteristics**; (2) **competent and honest management**; (3) **purchase price attractive** when measured against the yardstick of value to a private owner; and (4) an industry with which we are familiar and whose long-term business characteristics we feel competent to judge. It is difficult to find investments meeting such a test, and that is one reason for our concentration of holdings. We simply can’t find one hundred different securities that conform to our investment requirements. However, we feel quite comfortable concentrating our holdings in the much smaller number that we do identify as attractive.