“原文精读”第3期
这是我的第335篇原创文章
作者按:
巴菲特在2006年宣布捐出自己99%以上的财富,以巴菲特当时持有的伯克希尔股票计算,如果巴菲特没有进行慈善捐赠的话,其现在的持仓市值已经高达2449亿美元(截至2023年6月),是当之无愧的世界首富。即便是在捐献了超过半数的财富之后,如今的巴菲特依然坐拥千亿美元身家,常年位居“福布斯富豪榜”前5名。
如果把巴菲特所获得的巨额财富视为世俗意义上的成功,那么在“立功”之外,巴菲特还有一项极其卓越的成就,那就是“立言”。巴菲特数十年如一日,笔耕不辍,把他对投资、对人生的理解都倾注在历年的致股东信里。《巴菲特致股东的信》也因此被誉为投资界的“圣经”,几乎是每位投资者的必读书目之一。
英文版的The Essays of Warren Buffett由巴菲特原著,坎宁安整理,是学习巴菲特的第一手资料。近期,我发起了“学习原文每日打卡”活动,多次被推荐为“雪球热帖”。为方便公众号上的更多读者学习,我决定定期将相关内容发布于此,定名为:原文精读。每期推送约10天的打卡内容,以下为第3期(2023.7.1~2023.7.10):
1
Day22:伯克希尔的两大杠杆
巴神原文:Besides, Berkshire has access to two low-cost, non-perilous sources of leverage that allow us to safely own far more assets than our equity capital alone would permit: deferred taxes and “float”, the funds of others that our insurance business holds because it receives premiums before needing to pay out losses. Both of these funding sources have grown rapidly and now total about $170 billion.
Better yet, this funding to date has often been cost-free. Deferred tax liabilities bear no interest. And as long as we can break even in our insurance underwriting, the cost of the float developed from that operation is zero. Neither item, of course, is equity; these are real liabilities. But they are liabilities without covenants or due dates attached to them. In effect, they give us the benefit of debt—an ability to have more assets working for us—but saddle us with none of its drawbacks.
英文释义:1.“low-cost”意为“低成本的”,“non-perilous”意为“无风险的”;
2.“assets”与“equity capital”形成对应,文中旨在说明,伯克希尔实际可以运用的资产,远远多于其股权资本;
3.“deferred taxes”意为“递延税收”,它和“浮存金”一道,是伯克希尔资本配置的“秘密武器”;
4.“premiums”意为“保险费”;
5.“better yet”意为“更好的是”,“to date”意为“迄今为止”;
6.“deferred tax liabilities”意为“递延所得税负债”;
7.“as long as”意为“只要…”,“break even”意为“收支平衡”,“underwriting”意为“承保”;
8.“neither”意为“两者都不”;
9.“covenants”意为“契约”,“due dates”意为“到期日”;
10.“saddle sb with sth”意为“使某人负担某些难事”,文中旨在说明,递延税收和浮存金作为负债,却没有让巴菲特承受负债的任何缺点。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,伯克希尔不是没有杠杆,但是它的杠杆是“低成本”、“无风险”的,这让伯克希尔安全地拥有和掌控了远多于股权资本的实际资产。这两大杠杆分别是“递延所得税”和“保险浮存金”。巴菲特还特意解释了一下,“浮存金”是指保险公司收到保费但尚未发生赔付、由保险公司持有和使用的资金。截至目前,两项合计约1700亿美元。
更厉害的是,迄今为止,这1700亿美元的巨额资金都是免费为伯克希尔所用的。递延所得税负债相当于是公司欠税务局的一笔无息贷款;只要保险公司的承保能够维持盈亏平衡,伯克希尔运用浮存金的成本就是零。从会计的角度讲,递延所得税和保险浮存金都是负债,而不是资产。但是,它们都是无期限、无附加条件的负债。
事实上,递延所得税和保险浮存金让巴菲特享受了负债的好处,那就是释放了更多的资产为其所用,但却没有让巴菲特承受负债的任何缺点。所以说,巴菲特并不是反对负债,并不是不用负债,而是巧妙地使用了负债。无论是递延所得税还是保险浮存金,都是伯克希尔完美商业闭环的关键一环。
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大声朗读:大家请自由发挥,哈哈哈!大家的手抄原文,也可以在评论区上传打卡。很多朋友的英文书写都很棒,每天我会选一位字迹美观的转发~
(2023年7月1日)
2
Day23:保险浮存金的成本
巴神原文:Of course, there is no guarantee that we can obtain our float in the future at no cost. But we feel our chances of attaining that goal are as good as those of anyone in the insurance business. Not only have we reached the goal in the past (despite a number of important mistakes by your Chairman), our 1996 acquisition of GEICO materially improved our prospects for getting there in the future.
Since 2011, we expect additional borrowings to be concentrated in our utilities and railroad businesses, loans that are non-recourse to Berkshire. Here, we will favor long-term, fixed-rate loans.
英文释义:1.“not only”意为“非但”、“不仅仅是”;
2.“materially”意为“实质性地”;
3.“prospects”意为“前景”、“展望”;
4.“additional borrowings”意为“额外借款”;
5.“be concentrated in”意为“集中于…”、“全神贯注于…”;
6.“utilities”意为“公用事业”;
7.“non-recourse”意为“无追索权”;
8.“fixed-rate loans”意为“固定利率贷款”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,他不能保证,将来伯克希尔所获得的保险浮存金一定是零成本的。但是,要想达到这一目标,他不会比保险行业的任何同行做得差。非但是伯克希尔过去顺利达成了这一目标,未来还会继续表现优秀。比如说,1996年并购盖可保险,实质性地改善了伯克希尔实现未来目标的愿景。巴菲特自嘲道,即便是自己也犯过一些错误,但对大局影响不大。
给大家补充一段背景资料:1995年,巴菲特决定耗费23亿美元巨资,买下盖可保险另外50%流通在外的股份,主要就是看重浮存金的价值。盖可保险变成伯克希尔全资拥有的子公司以后,可以给伯克希尔贡献近30亿美元的浮存金。而且随着时间的推移,浮存金的规模还会只增不减。另外,由于盖可保险本身的运营也会产生盈利,相当于浮存金的成本为负。
巴菲特预计,自2011年以来,伯克希尔的额外借款将集中投入在公用事业和铁路业务上,这些贷款对伯克希尔没有追索权。所谓“无追索权债务”,是指有抵押贷款,若借款方违约,贷款方可接收抵押物,但不能向借款方进一步获取补偿,即使抵押物价值无法弥补损失。巴菲特还说,他青睐于长期固定利率贷款。
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大声朗读:大家请自由发挥,哈哈哈!大家的手抄原文,也可以在评论区上传打卡。很多朋友的英文书写都很棒,每天我会选一位字迹美观的转发~
(2023年7月2日)
3
Day24:并购的原则
巴神原文:8.A managerial “wish list” will not be filled at shareholder expense. We will not diversify by purchasing entire businesses at control prices that ignore long-term economic consequences to our shareholders. We will only do with your money what we would do with our own, weighing fully the values you can obtain by diversifying your own portfolios through direct purchases in the stock market.
Charlie and I are interested only in acquisitions that we believe will raise the per-share intrinsic value of Berkshire’s stock. The size of our paychecks or our offices will never be related to the size of Berkshire’s balance sheet.
英文释义:1.“wish list”意为“愿望清单”;
2.“at shareholder expense”意为“归股东付费”、“由股东买单”;
3.“do with your money”与“do with our own”形成对应,文中旨在说明,巴菲特像对待自己的钱一样去打理股东的财富;
4.“weighing fully”意为“充分衡量”;
5.“per-share intrinsic value”意为“每股内在价值”;
6.“paychecks”意为“工资”、“薪水”;
7.“be related to”意为“与…有关”、“和…挂钩”;
8.“balance sheet”意为“资产负债表”,此处引申意为“财务状况”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,管理层的“愿望清单”不应由全体股东买单。巴菲特不会仅仅为了实现多元化,就去以并购的价格去购买整家企业,而置全体股东的长期经济利益于不顾。巴菲特的原则是,把股东们的钱当成是自己的钱去打理,这体现了最高的“受托人责任”。
当巴菲特开展并购的时候,他会充分权衡一点:如果是股东们自行从股市购买股票,其投资组合的多元化能让股东获得多少价值。当且仅当伯克希尔通过多元化能够获得更多价值时,相应的多元化才是有意义的。
只有当并购能够显著地提升伯克希尔的每股内在价值时,巴菲特和芒格才会对它感兴趣。此外,巴菲特还强调,他的薪水和办公室面积不会跟伯克希尔的财务状况挂钩。虽然伯克希尔的财务实力变得越来越雄厚,但是巴菲特对于费用支出却一直保持着非常克制的态度。以下跟大家补充一点背景资料:
巴菲特尽量让伯克希尔保持着简单高效的组织架构,公司没有法律、人事、公关、投资者关系或战略规划部门,也没有警卫、司机和打杂的人。根据巴菲特的统计,伯克希尔的税后日常开支占报告利润的比率不到1%,占公司年度透视盈余的比率更是低于0.5%。
这真的是非常了不起的成就。因为在很多公司,总部的费用可能会占到营业利润的10%以上。巴菲特认为,如果费用率达到10%,相比于费用率只有1%,意味着公司的股东们会遭受9%的价值损失。而且,高成本运营的公司,通常公司的绩效反而不太好。厉行勤俭节约,反对铺张浪费,这也是巴菲特的精神底色。
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大声朗读:大家请自由发挥,哈哈哈!大家的手抄原文,也可以在评论区上传打卡。很多朋友的英文书写都很棒,每天我会选一位字迹美观的转发~
(2023年7月3日)
4
Day25:留存收益的衡量标准
巴神原文:9.We feel noble intentions should be checked periodically against results. We test the wisdom of retaining earnings by assessing whether retention, over time, delivers shareholders at least $1 of market value for each $1 retained. To date, this test has been met. We will continue to apply it on a five-year rolling basis. As our net worth grows, it is more difficult to use retained earnings wisely.
I should have written the “five-year rolling basis” sentence differently, an error I didn’t realize until I received a question about this subject at the 2009 annual meeting.
When the stock market has declined sharply over a five-year stretch, our market-price premium to book value has sometimes shrunk. And when that happens, we fail the test as I improperly formulated it. In fact, we fell far short as early as 1971-75, well before I wrote this principle in 1983.
The five-year test should be:(1) during the period did our book-value gain exceed the performance of the S&P; and (2) did our stock consistently sell at a premium to book, meaning that every $1 of retained earnings was always worth more than $1? If these tests are met, retaining earnings has made sense.
英文释义:1.“noble intentions”意为“高尚的意图”,引申意为“良善的初心”;“against”意为“对比”、“参照”;
2.“retaining earnings”意为“留存收益”;“retention”意为“留存”;
3.“$1 of market value”与“$1 retained”形成对应;
4.“has been met”意为“已满足”、“已实现”;
5.“on a five-year rolling basis”意为“以五年滚动收益为基准”;
6.“premium to”意为“相对…的溢价”;
7.“improperly”意为“不恰当地”,“formulated”意为“制定”;
8.“fell far short”意为“远远不够”,其中“far”表示程度,用来修饰“short”;
9.“well before”意为“很久以前”;
10.“made sense”意为“合乎情理”、“有意义的”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,即便是初心良善,也应当每隔一段时间就对照结果进行检查。巴菲特评估留存收益是否明智的标准是:随着时间的推移,每1美元的留存收益,是否能够创造出至少1美元的市场价值。截至目前,上述目标已经实现。伯克希尔将继续以5年期滚动结果作为基准,来评判留存收益的有效性。不过,随着伯克希尔净资产逐年走高,要想明智地使用留存收益,变得越来越困难。
巴菲特说,他应该给“以5年期滚动收益为基准”换个说法。在2009年伯克希尔股东大会上,有位股东提到了关于留存收益的话题,才让他意识到,他此前的表述不够准确。
为什么说“不够准确”呢?假设这5年恰逢市场大跌,那么伯克希尔市值相对于账面价值的溢价就会严重缩水。当出现这种情况时,由于巴菲特制定的评价标准不够合理,导致无法通过这一测试。事实上,早在1971~1975年的情况就是如此,这还远远早于1983年巴菲特提出留存收益的测试原则。
经过实践的反思,巴菲特给出了更科学、更具体的衡量标准:在测试的5年周期内,1.伯克希尔的账面价值增幅是否超越了标准·普尔指数增幅?2.相比于伯克希尔的账面价值,其市值是否始终能够保持溢价?如果是,那么1美元的留存收益,铁定能创造超过1美元的市场价值。如果这两个标准都达到了,那么留存收益就是有意义的。
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大声朗读:大家请自由发挥,哈哈哈!大家的手抄原文,也可以在评论区上传打卡。很多朋友的英文书写都很棒,每天我会选一位字迹美观的转发~
(2023年7月4日)
5
Day26:发行新股的标准
巴神原文:10.We will issue common stock only when we receive as much in business value as we give. This rule applies to all forms of issuance—not only mergers or public stock offerings, but stock-for-debt swaps, stock options, and convertible securities as well. We will not sell small portions of your company—and that is what the issuance of shares amounts to—on a basis inconsistent with the value of the entire enterprise.
When we sold the Class B shares in 1996, we stated that Berkshire stock was not undervalued—and some people found that shocking. That reaction was not well-founded. Shock should have registered instead had we issued shares when our stock was undervalued. Managements that say or imply during a public offering that their stock is undervalued are usually being economical with the truth or uneconomical with their existing shareholders’ money: Owners unfairly lose if their managers deliberately sell assets for 80¢ that in fact are worth $1. We didn’t commit that kind of crime in our offering of Class B shares and we never will. (We did not, however, say at the time of the sale that our stock was overvalued, though many media have reported that we did.)
英文释义:1.“issue”意为“发行”;“common stock”意为“普通股”;
2.“mergers”意为“并购”;“stock-for-debt swaps”意为“以股抵债”;“stock options”意为“股票期权”;“convertible securities”意为“可转换证券”;
3.“amounts”意为“金额”;“inconsistent with”意为“与…不一致”;
4.“undervalued”意为“低估”;
5.“well-founded”意为“理由充足的”;“not well-founded”意为“没有道理的”;
6.“registered”意为“发表意见”,此处引申意为“表现出来”;
7.“say”意为“明说”;“imply”意为“暗示”;
8.“economical with the truth”意为“隐瞒真相”;“uneconomical with their existing shareholders’ money”意为“挥霍现有股东群体的财富”;这里“economical”与“uneconomical”形成对应,用得非常巧妙;
9.“unfairly”意为“不公平地”,“deliberately”意为“蓄意地”;
10.“commit that kind of crime”意为“犯…的罪”;“overvalued”意为“高估”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,当且仅当我们得到的商业价值和我们付出的一样多时,我们才会发行普通股。这一规则适用于各种形式的股份发行,不仅仅是并购或者股票公开发行,还包括以股抵债、股票期权、可转换证券,等等。发行新股所得金额,实际上就是出售了公司原有股东的一部分权益。如果这一部分权益的发行价与整家企业的估值不一致,那么巴菲特就不会这样做。
巴菲特回忆说,1996年伯克希尔发行B股时,他就声明说,伯克希尔的股票没有被低估,当时很多人对这种说法感到震惊。巴菲特认为,这样的反应实在是没有道理。如果股价被低估了,巴菲特还在发行新股,那才让人感到震惊呢。当一家公司发行新股时,如果管理层明说或者暗示自家的股票被低估,要么就是没说实话,要么就是在挥霍原有股东群体的财富:
如果管理层明知道股票被低估,还蓄意地将价值1美元的资产以80美分的价格出售,这当然会让原有股东群体遭受到不公平的损失呀!巴菲特声明说,当伯克希尔发行B股时,他并没有犯这种“罪过”,而且以后也不会。不过,当时巴菲特也没有说伯克希尔的股票被高估了,虽然很多媒体报道称巴菲特这样说过。
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大声朗读:大家请自由发挥,哈哈哈!大家的手抄原文,也可以在评论区上传打卡。很多朋友的英文书写都很棒,每天我会选一位字迹美观的转发~
(2023年7月5日)
6
Day27:长期持有=永远不卖?
巴神原文:11.You should be fully aware of one attitude Charlie and I share that hurts our financial performance: Regardless of price, we have no interest at all in selling any good businesses that Berkshire owns. We are also very reluctant to sell sub-par businesses as long as we expect them to generate at least some cash and as long as we feel good about their managers and labor relations. We hope not to repeat the capital-allocation mistakes that led us into such sub-par businesses. And we react with great caution to suggestions that our poor businesses can be restored to satisfactory profitability by major capital expenditures. (The projections will be dazzling and the advocates sincere, but, in the end, major additional investment in a terrible industry usually is about as rewarding as struggling in quicksand.) Nevertheless, gin rummy managerial behavior (discard your least promising business at each turn) is not our style. We would rather have our overall results penalized a bit than engage in that kind of behavior.
We continue to avoid gin rummy behavior. True, we closed our textile business in the mid-1980s after 20 years of struggling with it, but only because we felt it was doomed to run never-ending operating losses. We have not, however, given thought to selling operations that would command very fancy prices nor have we dumped our laggards, though we focus hard on curing the problems that cause them to lag. To clean up some confusion voiced in 2016, we emphasize that the comments here refer to businesses we control, not to marketable securities.
英文释义:1.“fully aware of”意为“充分意识到”;
2.“reluctant”意为“不情愿的”;“sub-par businesses”意为“低于标准的生意”,引申意为“二流生意”;
3.“caution”意为“谨慎”、“慎重”;“restored”意为“恢复”;“capital expenditures”意为“资本支出”;
4.“projections”意为“设想”、“预测”;“dazzling”意为“光彩夺目的”;“advocates”意为“提倡者”;“as rewarding as”意为“得到像…一样的回报”;“quicksand”意为“流沙”、“难以摆脱的困境”;
5.“nevertheless”意为“然而”;“gin rummy”意为“金罗美”,一种两人参与的纸牌游戏;“discard”意为“丢弃”、“打出手中的牌”;“least promising”意为“最没有希望的”;
6.“textile business”意为“纺织业务”;“was doomed to”意为“注定要…”;“never-ending”意为“无休止的”;
7.“given thought to”意为“考虑”;“command very fancy prices”意为“出价很高”;“dumped”意为“丢弃”;“laggards”意为“落伍者”;“curing”意为“治愈”;“to lag”意为“滞后”、“拖后腿”;
8.“clean up”意为“澄清”;
9.“businesses we control”与“marketable securities”形成对应。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,他和芒格一直秉持着一种态度,那就是无论是多高的价格,他们都对出售伯克希尔现在拥有的业务毫无兴趣。这样的态度有可能会对伯克希尔的业绩造成损害,望股东们周知。即使是对一些二流生意,只要它们还能产生一些现金,只要对其管理层及劳资关系感到满意,巴菲特也是极不情愿出售的。
巴菲特只是希望,以后少在资本配置上犯错,以免再买到那些二流生意。对于已经在手的二流生意,巴菲特给予了非常宽容的态度。还有很多人建议说,只要给那些二流生意多投入一些资金,它们就会恢复盈利能力,巴菲特对此抱有极其谨慎的态度。理想很丰满,提建议的人也很真诚,但巴菲特认为,在一个糟糕的行业里新增资本,其得到的结果,就像在流沙里奋力奔跑一样。
不过话说回来,巴菲特并不喜欢金罗美式的管理方式(每一轮都丢弃最没有希望的那张牌),这不是他的风格。为此,巴菲特宁愿让伯克希尔的总体业绩承受一点不利影响。巴菲特解释说,虽然在苦心经营了20年之后,伯克希尔最终在20世纪80年代中期关停了纺织业务,但这是因为,这项业务注定会陷入到无休止的亏损当中。
巴菲特重申,即便是别人给出高价,他也不愿意卖出伯克希尔的业务,也不会抛弃那些“拖后腿”的业务。他会想办法找到那些“拖后腿”的“病根”,然后“对症下药”,努力去解决问题。最后,巴菲特还特意做了澄清,2016年他说得不够清楚,让一些人产生困惑,现在他再强调一遍:他上面所说的,仅仅是针对伯克希尔的旗下子公司,不包括伯克希尔的股票持仓。
在我看来,巴菲特的这段话,基本上比较全面地、准确地概括了他对被投企业的态度:第一,尽量选择好公司;第二,无论好公司的报价多高都不卖;第三,努力提高投资水平,尽量少选二流生意;第四,万一买到了二流生意,那么还是尽量去解决问题。不到万不得已,也尽量不作处理;第五,上述原则仅适用于伯克希尔控制的业务,不包括其持仓股票。
讲到这里,关于巴菲特“长期持有”的一些误解或谬论可以休矣!如果仔细品味巴菲特的言论,我们就会明白:股票高估了是应当卖出的,而不是所谓的“死了都不卖”。特别是对于我们普通投资者而言,我们的买入和卖出并不会显著影响股价,也不会给我们带来额外的税负成本。“低估时买入、合理估值时持有、高估时卖出”才是更适合我们的投资策略。
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(2023年7月6日)
7
Day28:对待股东的“同理心”
巴神原文:12.We will be candid in our reporting to you, emphasizing the pluses and minuses important in appraising business value. Our guideline is to tell you the business facts that we would want to know if our positions were reversed. We owe you no less. Moreover, as a company with a major communications business, it would be inexcusable for us to apply lesser standards of accuracy, balance and incisiveness when reporting on ourselves than we would expect our news people to apply when reporting on others. We also believe candor benefits us as managers: The CEO who misleads others in public may eventually mislead himself in private.
At Berkshire you will find no “big bath” accounting maneuvers or restructurings nor any “smoothing” of quarterly or annual results. We will always tell you how many strokes we have taken on each hole and never play around with the scorecard. When the numbers are a very rough “guesstimate”, as they necessarily must be in insurance reserving, we will try to be both consistent and conservative in our approach.
英文释义:1.“pluses”与“minuses”形成对应,意为“好坏”、“优劣”;“appraising”意为“评估”;
2.“guideline”意为“准则”;“if our positions were reversed”意为“角色互换”,引申意为“将心比心”、“推己及人”;
3.“no less”意为“依然”,表强调;“we owe you no less”意为“我们对你负有基本的义务”;
4.“major communications business”意为“大型传媒业务”;“inexcusable”意为“不可原谅的”;“lesser”意为“较少的”;“accuracy”意为“准确性”,“incisiveness”意为“敏锐性”;
5.“candor”意为“坦率”;“misleads others in public”与“mislead himself in private”形成对应;
6.“big bath”意为“洗大澡”,引申意为“财务美化”、“财务造假”;“maneuvers”意为“花招”;“restructurings”意为“重组”;“smoothing”意为“平滑业绩”;
7.“strokes”意为“击球”;“play around with”意为“戏弄”、“玩弄”;“scorecard”意为“记分卡”;
8.“rough”意为“粗糙的”;“guesstimate”意为“大致估计”;“insurance reserving”意为“保险准备金”;
9.“consistent”意为“连续的”;“conservative”意为“保守的”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,他在年报中会以坦诚的姿态对待股东们,在评估公司商业价值时,着重介绍那些重要的正面和负面因素。巴菲特的原则是,如果他想知道什么,将心比心地去想,他就会告诉股东们什么。巴菲特始终负有很强烈的“受托人责任”,他认为自己对股东们负有告知的义务。
此外,伯克希尔作为一家拥有大型传媒业务的集团,如果有关自身的报告在准确性、平衡性和敏锐性方面还不如旗下的新闻人员报道别人的水准,那简直就是不可原谅的。巴菲特坚信,作为管理者,自身也会因为坦诚而受益:如果一位CEO在公众场合误导别人,那么最终结果可能是在私下里也会误导自己。
在伯克希尔,你永远也不会看到“财务洗大澡”的会计操纵或重组,也看不到任何年度的、季度的业绩平滑。巴菲特会原原本本地告诉股东们,在每一个洞里打进了多少球,他绝不会去篡改记分卡。当然,有时候会出现一些粗略的估计数据,比如说保险准备金的拨备就是如此。这种情况下,巴菲特会尽量保证数据的连贯性,以及作尽量保守的估计。
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(2023年7月7日)
8
Day29:与股东的沟通方式
巴神原文:We will be communicating with you in several ways. Through the annual report, I try to give all shareholders as much value-defining information as can be conveyed in a document kept to reasonable length. We also try to convey a liberal quantity of condensed but important information in the quarterly reports we post on the internet, though I don’t write those (one recital a year is enough ). Still another important occasion for communication is our Annual Meeting, at which Charlie and I are delighted to spend five hours or more answering questions about Berkshire. But there is one way we can’t communicate: on a one-on-one basis. That isn’t feasible given Berkshire’s many thousands of owners.
In all of our communications, we try to make sure that no single shareholder gets an edge: We do not follow the usual practice of giving earnings “guidance” or other information of value to analysts or large shareholders. Our goal is to have all of our owners updated at the same time.
英文释义:1.“reasonable length”意为“合理的长度”,引申意为“合理的篇幅”;
2.“liberal quantity”意为“充足的数量”;“condensed”意为“浓缩的”;
3.“recital”意为“诗歌朗诵会”、“音乐演奏会”,这里指代“致股东的信”;
4.“delighted to”意为“很高兴…”;
5.“one-on-one”意为“一对一的”;
6.“feasible”意为“可行的”;
7.“edge”意为“优势”;
8.“earnings guidance”意为“盈利预期”、“业绩指引”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,他会通过多种形式跟股东们保持沟通。首先是年度报告,在这个篇幅合理的文件中,巴菲特会尽可能地向全体股东传递更多有价值的信息;其次是季度报告,里面会向股东们传递一些简要但重要的信息。不过季度报告并不是巴菲特亲笔撰写的,他认为一年写一封信已经足够;
最后就是股东大会,在这个场合,巴菲特和芒格会乐意花费5个小时甚至更多时间,来回答有关伯克希尔的问题。但是,巴菲特做不到“一对一”地去跟股东们交流。考虑到伯克希尔拥有成千上万的股东,“一对一”根本就行不通。
无论是哪种交流方式,巴菲特都试图确保,没有哪位股东可以获得特殊优待。巴菲特不会按照业界的惯常做法,向分析师或者大股东提供所谓的“盈利预测”或者其他有价值的信息。巴菲特的愿景是,让全体股东同时保持相同的信息更新。
记得我在《巴菲特的嘉年华》译者序里写的,巴菲特之所以得到股东们的衷心拥护,其中的重要原因之一就是,巴菲特对待全体股东,无论年龄老幼,无论持股多少,都是一视同仁的平等。相信今天的内容,会让大家对此有更深的理解。
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(2023年7月8日)
9
Day30:“无可奉告”意味着什么?
巴神原文:13.Despite our policy of candor we will discuss our activities in marketable securities only to the extent legally required. Good investment ideas are rare, valuable and subject to competitive appropriation just as good product or business acquisition ideas are. Therefore we normally will not talk about our investment ideas. This ban extends even to securities we have sold (because we may purchase them again) and to stocks we are incorrectly rumored to be buying. If we deny those reports but say “no comment” on other occasions, the no-comments become confirmation.
Though we continue to be unwilling to talk about specific stocks, we freely discuss our business and investment philosophy. I benefitted enormously from the intellectual generosity of Ben Graham, the greatest teacher in the history of finance, and I believe it appropriate to pass along what I learned from him, even if that creates new and able investment competitors for Berkshire just as Ben’s teachings did for him.
英文释义:1.“marketable securities”意为“有价证券”,“to the extent legally required”意为“在法律要求的范围内”;
2.“subject to competitive appropriation”意为“受到竞争对手的盗用”;
3.“ban”意为“禁令”;“extends”意为“拓展”;
4.“deny”意为“否认”;“no comment”意为“无可奉告”;
5.“business and investment philosophy”意为“商业和投资哲学”;
6.“enormously”意为“极大地”;“generosity”意为“慷慨”;
7.“pass along”意为“传授”;
8.“even if”意为“即使”。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,尽管他对股东们奉行坦诚的态度,不过他对有价证券的谈论,仅仅限于法律法规所要求的范围之内(比如按照美国证监会的要求,必须进行披露的事项)。因为好的投资主意就像好的产品或者商业并购主意一样,是非常稀缺的,也容易遭到竞争对手的剽窃。
因此,巴菲特一般不会谈论自己的持仓股票,甚至连那些卖出过的股票都不谈论,因为将来可能会再次买回这只股票。巴菲特也不谈论那些市场上谣传他要买入的股票,因为如果他否认了这些报道,但是在一些别的场合又说“无可奉告”的话,那么“无可奉告”实际上是承认了(自己买了某只股票)。
巴菲特表示,虽然他很不情愿去谈论个股,但他可以跟大家畅所欲言地交流商业和投资哲学。巴菲特坦言,他从史上最伟大的金融导师——本·格雷厄姆关于投资智慧的教诲中受益匪浅,他认为应当把从格雷厄姆那里学到的再传授给别人。虽然这样做会给自己培养新的竞争对手,就像当年格雷厄姆教会了很多投资对手一样。
“I believe it appropriate to pass along what I learned from him”这一句,让我想到了天南老师说的,“让那些曾经照亮过我们的,去照亮更多的人”;也让我想到了唐朝老师说的,“当令众生喜,能报网络恩”。如今,我也因为巴芒杨唐等前辈的分享受益颇多,故而我也愿意将这种“分享观”传递下去。如果我的发文对大家有哪怕一点点的帮助,也是我的荣幸。
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(2023年7月9日)
10
Day31:巴菲特的“市值管理”
巴神原文:14.To the extent possible, we would like each Berkshire shareholder to record a gain or loss in market value during his period of ownership that is proportional to the gain or loss in per-share intrinsic value recorded by the company during that holding period. For this to come about, the relationship between the intrinsic value and the market price of a Berkshire share would need to remain constant, and by our preferences at 1-to-1. As that implies, we would rather see Berkshire’s stock price at a fair level than a high level. Obviously, Charlie and I can’t control Berkshire’s price. But by our policies and communications, we can encourage informed, rational behavior by owners that, in turn, will tend to produce a stock price that is also rational. Our it’s-as-bad-to-be-overvalued-as-to-be-undervalued approach may disappoint some shareholders. We believe, however, that it affords Berkshire the best prospect of attracting long-term investors who seek to profit from the progress of the company rather than from the investment mistakes of their partners.
英文释义:1.“to the extent”意为“在…的程度上”;“gain or loss”意为“损益”;“proportional to”意为“与…成比例”;
2.“a gain or loss in market value”与“the gain or loss in per-share intrinsic value”形成对应;“during his period of ownership”与“by the company during that holding period”形成对应;
3.“come about”意为“产生”;“remain constant”意为“保持不变”;
4.“fair level”与“high level”形成对应;
5.“informed”意为“知情的”;“rational”意为“理性的”;“in turn”意为“相应地”、“反过来”;
6.“it’s-as-bad-to-be-overvalued-as-to-be-undervalued”意为“股价高估跟股价低估一样糟糕”;
7.“the progress of the company”与“the investment mistakes of their partners”形成对应。
投资解读:巴菲特讲,如果有可能的话,他希望伯克希尔的每一名股东在其持股期间获得的市值损益,和同期伯克希尔的每股损益保持同比例的变动。要想实现这一目标,伯克希尔股票的每股内在价值和每股市场价格须维持恒定不变的关系,巴菲特希望这一比例是1:1,这就意味着,相比于伯克希尔的股价被高估,巴菲特更愿意看到它维持在合理公平的水平。
很显然,作为一间上市公司,巴菲特和芒格并不能控制伯克希尔的股价。但是,通过持续的政策宣导和坦诚沟通,巴菲特实际上是在鼓励有识的、理性的投资行为。反过来,股东们的理性,最终也会促进股价的理性。“it’s-as-bad-to-be-overvalued-as-to-be-undervalued”可以视为巴菲特对“市值管理”的态度和原则。
巴菲特坚信,虽然有些股东会对他“不希望低估也不希望高估”的理念感到失望,但伯克希尔会因此吸引到真正具有“长期主义”信念的投资者,他们的获利并不是来源于其他投资伙伴的投资失误,而是来源于公司的发展。巴菲特的态度是非常鲜明的:他不喜欢股东们之间“互摸腰包”,而是希望股东们一起分享伯克希尔的成长红利。
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(2023年7月10日)
11
本期奖品
奖品一:冠亚手写10张词牌名(花窗笺)
奖品二:《投资的奥妙》 陈嘉禾著
冠亚说
《庄子·应帝王》讲过一个小故事:南海之帝为倏,北海之帝为忽,中央之帝为浑沌。倏、忽经常到浑沌的地界去玩,浑沌待之不薄。
为了报答浑沌,倏、忽商量着说:“人皆有七窍,唯独浑沌没有,让我们帮他凿开吧!”好心好意的倏、忽二帝,每日凿一窍,七日而浑沌死。
我们从小接受的教育就是“己所不欲,勿施于人”,这是一种有“同理心”的表现。从倏、忽、浑沌的故事中,我们会得出为人处世的另一条原则,那就是“己之所欲,慎施于人”。
你喜欢的,未必是别人喜欢的。将自己喜欢的,强加给别人,并美其名曰“我是为你好”,这其实是一种“道德绑架”。别人不但不会喜欢,反而会感受到极强的压迫感。
@唐朝 老师曾分享过跟子女相处的“七字诀”:平等,身教,低预期。其实,我们跟身边的任何人相处,这条原则都是适用的:
第一,不站在“道德的制高点”去评判别人;第二,只告诉别人,自己是怎么做的;第三,至于别人怎么做,是他的自由。能做到这三点,一定会拥有更加愉悦的人际关系。
所以,我们的“原文精读”打卡活动,我只是分享了我正在做这件事,以及我认为它带来的益处,但从来没有动员过任何朋友来参加。只有你完全出于自愿,才不会有压力或负担,这也是我希望看到的局面。
今天依然是老规矩,截至当晚22:00,留言点赞最高者获得两份奖品,顺丰包邮。