Buffett The Making Of An American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein

Buffett The Making Of An American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein is an interesting read which was very much ahead of it's time.

When first published in 1995, it was offering a profile that was very much required. Buffett was in the news and within the investment world was a major star, but very little was known about him. This biography helped to build his reputation further and get more of his background into the wider public domain.

There was little known about his investment methods at the time and though this book does not explain his methodology in much depth, it did provide an insight. At the time, Buffett was well known for not divulging his secret.

Simply put, he knew that the more information the world knew about his methods, the harder it would become for him to outperform the market and his peers. His silence was therefore designed to protect his competitive advantage of the investment world.

However, the book does contain a very detailed rationale behind Buffett's dislike of the Efficient Market Theory and his well known explanations about coin flipping and investment managers. I won't go into more here - you'll need to read the book!

Many topics are discussed, such as using borrowed money, his circle of competence, his thoughts about a concentrated portfolio and of course details of his investments.

One fact shines through from the book very clearly: Warren Buffett is a very intelligent man.

His powers of reasoning and logic are evident and it is these which clearly help make him the superior investor that he is. No matter what your thoughts about Buffett, the logic in his decision making is superb, a lesson to us all!

Details of investments and deals evidence how clearly he thinks about a business and his own competencies relative to those firms. Frankly, his powers of analysis put most of the rest of us to shame.

This biography is well written and entertaining and for those with a desire to understand more about either investment or the man, Buffett The Making Of An American Capitalist should prove to be well worth a read.