In our giddiness after the Fool’s trip to the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting, we’ve been cranking out a lot of articles on the conference and its two stars, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.
To keep the fun going, I’ve compiled my favorite quotes from the weekend. Feel free to chime in with your favorites from this year or years past in the comments section below!
Munger on IQ: “If you think your IQ is 160 and it’s 150, you’re a disaster.”
Buffett on IQ (in investing): “If you have a 150 IQ, sell 30 points to someone else. You need to be smart, but not a genius. What’s most important is inner peace; you have to be able to think for yourself. It’s not a complicated game.”
Munger on Google (Nasdaq: GOOG): "Google has a huge new moat. In fact I've probably never seen such a wide moat." Click here for more.
Buffett on his refusal to name a successor and have that successor study at his feet in Omaha: “I don’t see any advantage in having a crown prince around.”
Buffett being extremely coy: “I’m not needed. Ajit [Jain] is needed.” Click here for more.
Munger, who is seven years older than Buffett, being extremely coy: “Sometimes I feel my sole function is to show shareholders that they’ll get another good seven years out of Warren.”
Munger on Moody’s debt rating downgrade of Berkshire Hathaway, one of Moody’s major shareholders: “At least it shows independence”
Buffett on the banking situation:
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Buffett on Wells Fargo, US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) , and M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB): “We would buy stock in any of the three at current prices.”
- (As an aside, Buffett said that he didn’t know the balance sheet of another Berkshire bank holding, SunTrust (NYSE: STI), well enough to comment on it. He said he may look into it if he is bored one day. Don’t panic, SunTrust followers ... remember that the SunTrust buy decision may have been made by one of his managers.)
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Buffett going even further on Wells, referring to when its stock price fell under $9 a share (it’s now above $25 a share): "If I had to put all of my net worth into one stock, that would be the stock." Click here or here for more.
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Buffett on bank death: “For sure, 15 of 19 banks are not too big to fail.”
After Buffett gave a patient response to a question posed by a self-aggrandizing mutual fund manager, Munger added: “What we’re politely trying to say is that you need to change your way of thinking.”
Munger on gaining market share in a panic: “We’re copying Andrew Carnegie’s playbook.”
Munger on commodities: “POSCO (NYSE: PKX) is the best steel company in the world.”
Buffett explaining that our experience was free but profitable: “We sold 68 policies for GEICO at the annual meeting. That more than paid for the annual meeting.”
Munger: “I have nothing else to add.”
Well, that’s not true. He actually did have more to add. Before you add your own quotes in the comments area below, click here to read what Charlie had to say at the Wesco Financial shareholder meeting later that week.
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