You guys keep forgetting that Buffet is wealthy by OWNING BUSINESSES. The stock pickjs is just where he is parking earnings. Look at his portfolio of owned 100% businesses. Just because he decided to park excess earnings in COKE, McDonald's and GE is not where is true net worth comes from.
? stock ownership IS biz ownership... unless you mean owning 100% of the business... fundamentally there is no difference, except you own the board if you have 100%. whatever he owns, it's in the BRK-A.
He became wealthy buying businesses 100% outright...which means he generates 100% of the income for his pocket. These are private holdings. See's Candies Geico Helzberg's Diamonds Dairy Queen Fruit of the Loom Russell Athletic Duracell His wealth is because he owns billions in companies that generate healthy profits for him. Stocks are just where he invests his earned income. If you don't know the difference between owning shares of APPL and owning the above businesses outright....
Warren Buffet's history might help you if you want to replicate what he did and the way he did it, but they're not much of a guide to TA-based short-term private retail trading.
He bought businesses with negative working capital for very little: insurance companies. He then took the negative working capital and used it to buy cheap operating businesses that fit his criteria. He can afford to have an infinite holding period because next year his insurance companies produce more cash to invest: unlike us. It was total genius.
at this time, because of his replutation, he can buy into troubled companies. he receives convertible preferred stock paying a 9% dividend, while waiting for the turnaround to happen. that's a very very nice annual return for waiting.
what are the returns on the private holdings? likely comparable to the stuff he has in BRK-A. anyway - small potatoes like us can go into private placement funds to play the private game...but to me the technology revolution is good enough.. just buy the FAAMG.
As @newwurldmn mentioned, Buffett's genius lies not in his stockpicking, but in his financing structure. "These two factors—the low-beta nature of the portfolio and leverage—pretty much explain all of Mr Buffett’s superior returns, the authors find." https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2012/09/29/the-secrets-of-buffetts-success
Yes is genius is not in buying Coke, Home Depot and GE stocks for his portfolio. As detailed by others above, owning a business is how you accumulate wealth and how he did it is impressive.