A lot of people took a financial hit during the “Great Recession” that began in December 2007 and continued into mid-2009. Robert Bloch counts himself as one of those people and readily admits he did everything wrong when it came to managing his personal stock portfolio. Among other things, he said he was a nervous investor who sold stocks when he should have kept them.
He didn’t want to experience another downturn as an uneasy investor, so he began to study the man considered the most successful investor of the 20th century, Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
“He’s a long-term purchaser. When things go down, he buys them. It’s like buying a dress. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Isn’t half-off better than full price?” said Bloch, a member of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.
Bloch started reading everything he could about Buffett, most notably the annual reports from Berkshire Hathaway. With Buffett’s permission, he has compiled what he thinks are the investor’s best quotes in a new book called, “My Warren Buffett Bible: A Short and Simple Guide to Rational Investing: 284 Quotes from the World’s Most Successful Investor.” The book, published by Skyhorse Publishing, will be out in stores Sept. 29 and can be pre-ordered now through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
A book signing is planned for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at Rainy Day Books. Another book signing will take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 10 at Barnes and Noble’s Zona Rosa location.
Bloch said he was drawn to Buffett’s thoughts because of his success.
“It’s just amazing what he’s done from basically nothing. He came from an average, Midwestern family. He just turned 85 on Aug. 30. He’s probably worth $60 billion himself. A month ago Berkshire Hathaway was worth $350 billion and now it’s worth about $320 billion because the markets have gotten hit. It’s down about 12 percent right now from all-time highs.”
“He is just so well loved. There’s about 40,000 people that attend his annual meeting the first Saturday in May every year. I’ve been to it a couple of times. It’s fantastic. No company has annual meetings like that.”
As he studied Buffett, he began collecting his quotes and thinking of the businessman as his mentor. In the book’s introduction, Bloch writes, “After experiencing several bear markets over his lifetime, Warren has learned to stay the course and stick to his investing principles, when other investors were selling or rethinking their strategies. Therefore a proven discipline is an essential element in becoming a successful investor. This book has helped me become a more disciplined investor.”
Although Bloch actually met his future mentor when Buffett was an investor in H&R Block, the tax preparations company his father Henry and uncle Richard formed in 1955, Robert Bloch got in touch with Buffett the way any other person would make the connection — through Berkshire Hathaway.
“I got his contact information from Berkshire Hathaway and mailed the manuscript to him,” Bloch said. “After seeing the manuscript, he gave his permission.”
Bloch thinks his connections to H&R Block might have helped him get through to Buffett.
“He didn’t keep that particular stock long term like he has Coca Cola or Wells Fargo or some of the other holdings he has. American Express he’s had since 1964. Some stocks he holds for a long time and some stocks he doesn’t,” Bloch said.
He believes the book will appeal to anyone interested in investing.
“I’m hoping it really helps the average investor that is not sophisticated,” he said. “What could be better for the average guy than to learn from the greatest teacher in the world?”
In the book’s introduction, Bloch said he is confident the book will help investors become more disciplined, as well as more rational, optimistic and long-term investors.”
“The ultimate act of generosity is Warren Buffett sharing his genius with the individual investor!”
Block said following Buffett’s advice is very easy to do. He points to one of his favorite Buffett quotes, which appears in the book’s introduction:
“ ‘It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you will drift in that direction.’ So let’s all do that, let’s all drift in Warren Buffett’s direction,” Bloch said.
That’s one of Bloch’s top 10 favorite Buffett quotes. Here’s another that appears in the in the 168-page book:
“Since the basic game is so favorable, Charlie (Buffett’s business partner) and I believe it’s a terrible mistake to try to dance in and out of it based upon the turn of tarot cards, the predictions of ‘experts,’ or the ebb and flow of business activity. The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.”
To Bloch, that advice is simple, “you should really stay in it.”
Another of Bloch’s favorites equates investing to purchasing dinner for the family.
“This is the one thing I can never understand. To refer to a personal taste of mine, I’m going to buy hamburgers the rest of my life. When hamburgers go down in price, we sing ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ in the Buffett household. When hamburgers go up, we weep. For most people, it’s the same way with everything in life they will be buying — except stocks. When stocks go down and you can get more for your money, people don’t like them anymore.”
To Bloch, that also has a simple translation. When stock prices go down, “that’s the time to like them.”
Since Bloch has been following Buffett’s advice through these quotes, he has decided that investors really shouldn’t listen to forecasters, who “will fill your ear but never fill your wallet.”
“Just don’t listen to anybody. They don’t know anything. They think they do, but they don’t,” he said.
As for today’s market, Bloch said we should remember that the stock market is manic depressive.
“You can see that right now. That should give an opportunity rather than fear.”
Bloch said investors who choose to read “My Warren Buffett Bible,” will see the man’s sense of humor.
“He’s got a very witty sense of humor and he’s so rational and so incredible. This quote is an example of that:
‘I’ve reluctantly discarded the notion of my continuing to manage the portfolio after my death, abandoning my hope to give new meaning to the term thinking outside the box.’ ”
Bloch said the 284 quotes really give the reader a good body of what Buffett thinks about a lot of different things. Some quotes, Bloch admits, are very similar to others.
“I think it makes more of an impression when you hear the same thing in a different way,” Bloch said.
Bloch said this book is very simple and easy book.
“That’s why I love it. Somebody can read it in two hours and I hope they keep reading it over and over and over again until they know it like the back of their hand. I think if they do that, they will be a much stronger investor.”
He certainly believes he’s a much better investor now that he has studied Buffett.
“I would have been so nervous seven years ago and start selling stocks and doing all sorts of stupid things. Now I’m leaving it alone and maybe buying a little.”{/mprestriction}