Warren Buffett has long emphasized that investing should be about owning businesses, not trading pieces of paper. Rather than focusing on the daily ups and downs of stock prices or the overall market’s direction, he looks at each stock as a share of a real company with long-term value.
“We look at individual businesses. And we don’t think of stocks as little items that wiggle around on the paper and that have charts attached to them,” Buffett explained at Berkshire Hathaway’s 1999 annual meeting. “We think of them as parts of businesses.”
This approach reflects Buffett’s belief that successful investing requires thinking like a business owner, not a speculator.
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.