Mr. Buffett's Lucky Day
On February 25, 2012, Warren Buffett released his letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders. Towards the end of his discussion on the rationale for the purchase of IBM (IBM) (shares of which I have personally owned for the last five years) was this paragraph:
Charlie and I don't expect to win many of you over to our way of thinking - we've observed enough human behavior to know the futility of that - but we do want you to be aware of our personal calculus. And here a confession is in order: In my early days I, too, rejoiced when the market rose. Then I read Chapter Eight of Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor, the chapter dealing with how investors should view fluctuations in stock prices. Immediately the scales fell from my eyes, and low prices became my friend. Picking up that book was one of the luckiest moments in my life.
I think most of us can agree that Mr. Buffett has created his own luck over the years. Some may consider obtaining a job with Benjamin Graham was his luckiest day. But for those of you who blame others' success on luck should remember that his job only came about after he offered his services for free!
My Lucky Day
My introduction to Ben Graham's Intelligent Investor truly was lucky. When I graduated from college, the only job offers that came my way paid me substantially less than I was making as a student. I remember one company that told me they were offering me more money than they have ever offered a new graduate. It was a respectable offer, but with a wife, two kids, and one more on the way, their offer still would have required me to make a choice between working for them or letting my kids go hungry
