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One of the most formative books Warren Buffett read as a young investor was The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Buffett has praised it as “by far the best book on investing ever written.”

A key concept from the book is the character of “Mr. Market,” Graham’s metaphor for the stock market’s often irrational behavior. Sometimes, Mr. Market offers fair prices for stocks—but other times, his emotions swing wildly, quoting values that are “a little short of silly.”

Buffett echoed this idea at Berkshire Hathaway’s 2012 Annual Meeting, saying, “It’s a marvelous game. The rules are stacked in your favor, if you don’t turn those rules upside down and start behaving like the drunken psychotic instead of the guy that’s there to take advantage of it.”

For Buffett, the lesson is clear: success in investing often comes down to staying rational while others are ruled by fear or greed.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Warren Buffett is a firm believer that successful investing doesn’t require predicting the stock market’s next move. In fact, he openly admits he has no idea what the market will do in the short term. “We haven’t the faintest idea what the stock market is going to do when it opens on Monday,” he once said.

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 Annual Meeting, Buffett reflected on how he missed opportunities during the COVID-19 market crash in March 2020. “We have not been good at timing,” he acknowledged. “We’ve been reasonably good at figuring out when we were getting enough for our money.”

For Buffett, the key isn’t timing—it’s value. He focuses on buying stocks when they’re undervalued and holding them for the long term. “That’s stuff you can learn in fourth grade,” he said. “But it’s not what’s taught in school.”

His approach is simple but powerful: don’t try to guess the market. Instead, look for businesses you understand, assess their true worth, and buy when the price is right.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series

© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

With thousands of public companies each producing dense annual reports, it can be overwhelming for investors to know where to begin. Warren Buffett offers a timeless, straightforward approach: start with companies you understand—and ignore the rest.

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway’s 1998 Annual Meeting, Buffett emphasized that annual reports can provide all the information you need to make an investment decision. “We start by looking at the reports of companies that we think we can understand,” he said. Buffett explained that a well-written report should tell readers what they’d want to know if they owned the whole business.

He pointed to Coca-Cola as a prime example. “The Coca-Cola annual report over the last good many years is an enormously informative document,” Buffett noted. “We bought that stock based on an annual report. We did not buy it based on any conversation of any kind with the top management of Coca-Cola before we bought our interest.”

For Buffett, the clarity and transparency of an annual report—combined with a solid understanding of the business—can be all it takes to make a multi-billion-dollar investment.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series

© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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When it comes to building wealth, timing matters — and according to Warren Buffett, the best time to start saving is as early as possible.

At the 1998 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett emphasized the power of saving before life’s bigger financial responsibilities kick in. “Any money you save before you get out and start having a family … any dollar is probably worth $10 later on simply because you can save it,” he said.

Buffett’s point is simple but powerful: saving when you’re young — especially before starting a family — gives your money more time to grow through compound interest. Once family life begins, expenses inevitably rise, making it harder to set money aside.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series

© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.