Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements: The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage Hardcover – Deckle Edge, October 14, 2008

I gave this book five stars, but if I could more stars I most definitely would have! If was direct and to the point, while explaining perfectly the concepts and rules as Warren Buffett analyses a company’s financial statements. Adding insight when to look at details of past financial performance. I read it in a few hours due to not being able to put it down. Thank you for sharing the depth and breathe of Warren’s interpretation of a company’s financial statements to identify those companies with a durable competitive advantage! EXCELLENT JOB!!

This is a great starting point to learn how to read the financial statements of a company. It was very easy to read through, took me only 4 days to finish. I'd recommend to the reader to pull up the financial statements of any company that they're interested in and read their statements as you go through this book as it will make good initial practice on determining if the company has a durable competitive advantage or not.

This book teaches a reader who has no economic degree, in a very friendly manner, about the three main parts of a financial statement: balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows. The lessons are provided in a very detailed way, with tables and step-by-step explanations. This is in contrast to "The Little Book of Value Investing" by Christopher H. Browne and Roger Lowenstein, which also gives a framework to analyze financial statements for successful stock-picking, but does not teach the basics of understanding each and every line in the statements.This book is very different from the student's manual of corporate finance. It is very practical. It has a separate chapter for every main item of a statement, and explains with examples and advises how it affects prospects of the company and whether the stock of the company should be bought to get the extraordinary long-term results.This book also describes the differences between Benjamin Grahams way of picking stock and one derived by Warren Buffett.Many amateur investors are losing money because they have no basic education at least to understand a financial statement. They pick fashionable, hot stocks, or just stocks of a company which product they like. For example, they are passionate listeners to satellite radio and just because of that they buy "SIRI" regardless of the negative equity and negative operating income. Refinancing the huge debt in the credit crunch of 2008 is a challenge. This book will help the new investors to understand these issues and to make smarter stock picking. Of course, this book is not a panacea. Of course, there is always risk. The financial intelligence improves the odds. Thus, what is risky for one person is less risky to someone else. That is the primary reason to invest more in one's financial education than in the stock. The smarter you are the better chance you have of beating the odds. It is not gambling if you know what you are doing. It is gambling if you are just throwing money into a deal and praying. The idea in anything is to use your technical knowledge, wisdom and love of the game to cut the odds down, to lower the risk. So let this book will be brick in the foundation of financial education.In addition to this book, I can recommend the other (previous) books by Marry Buffett. They are very useful for the right stock-picking. I also recommend "Value Investing With the Masters" by Kirk Kazanjian and "The Only Three Questions That Count" by Kenneth L. Fisher.If you want to read something good about Warren Buffet's life and his investment strategy, I can recommend "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist" by Roger Lowenstein and "The Snowball" by Alice Schroeder.

The writing is very simple and to the point. I have read a lot of finance books and I would categorize this one as a must read for investors. If you are on the fence I would suggest purchasing it. It goes through the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement and gives some of what the Oracle of Omaha looks for.

Very practical info. Just do the work.

Completely changed my perspective on investing and gave me a good investing framework to follow for the next 40 years of my life. You will develop an appreciation for how brilliant Warren Buffett really is.Felt like the book got over so quick.Likes:Very Engaging content and to the point ☝️Dislikes:Wish the authors delve deep into some more examples

The author is the former wife of Warren Buffet's son. The language she uses is friendly and easily comprehensible. The author touches on some key things that Buffet looks for in a stock. It is by no means an exhaustive list. To prepare to read this book, you should have a firm grasp of financial statements: income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. It is a short book. I would say it is best for those beginning to study value investing and fundamental analysis.

I'm glad I bought this book. Not for the explanation of basic accounting as there were numerous errors. I'm a CPA and spotted these all throughout the book.The real value of this book was 3 takeaways of Warren's philosophy which were invaluable (to me at least). Even though I shared the same outlook, this helped me synthesis my thoughts on the subject much more clearly. It won't change my investment thesis (as that already aligns with Warren), but it will help me review potential investments with much more clarity and focus.