Warren Buffett takes a seemingly cavalier approach to leadership succession plans. The 80-year-old investing legend likes to insist that when it comes time for him to step down from Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), very little will change. After all, the Berkshire has a deep bench of executives, all of whom are well-schooled in the firm’s winning investment philosophy. In reality, a change in leadership at Berkshire brings significant risk. First, Buffett’s unique intellectual skills can be hard to replicate. Simply mimicking his approach is not the same as thinking creatively, as he does. Second, even if such… Read More

Warren Buffett takes a seemingly cavalier approach to leadership succession plans. The 80-year-old investing legend likes to insist that when it comes time for him to step down from Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), very little will change. After all, the Berkshire has a deep bench of executives, all of whom are well-schooled in the firm’s winning investment philosophy. In reality, a change in leadership at Berkshire brings significant risk. First, Buffett’s unique intellectual skills can be hard to replicate. Simply mimicking his approach is not the same as thinking creatively, as he does. Second, even if such a successor were a very solid candidate, it will be hard to follow Buffett’s plain-spoken folksy style that really connects with investors. A successor that lacks Buffett’s charisma may not be able to retain the key relationship between Berkshire and its investors, turning the firm into just another anonymous mega-sized investment organization. Since Warren Buffett dropped hints at a March 21 conference in India that Berkshire insider Ajit Jain could easily assume the reins, investors need to take a close look at his background and style. Could he really fill those giant shoes? A… Read More

The capital markets are enjoying a bit of a renaissance in maniacal, pre-IPO valuation for Internet companies, more specifically, social networking businesses. The 900-pound gorilla of social networking, Facebook, has an estimated value of $50 billion or so thanks in part to the fact it decided to be Goldman… Read More

In a broadly diversified portfolio, it always pays to hold a batch of blue-chip stocks and a few more speculative names. Some of these speculative names can surge very quickly, giving your portfolio a healthy boost. Since the start of 2011, roughly a dozen stocks (with a… Read More

It’s one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. I added the shares to my High-Yield Investing portfolio in January 2009. Over the following two years, I received $2.54 a share in dividends thanks to a 5% yield. Meanwhile, the price rose steadily for a… Read More

Would you be interested in a simple investment strategy that allows you to capture more dividends? Savvy income investors can use a neat little trick that does just that. It’s not hard, but it will require a little research. The rewards can be great — you can easily earn yields… Read More

It’s been nearly 80 years since economists Benjamin Graham and David Dodd wrote their investing bible Security Analysis. Their book established a framework for value investors like Warren Buffett and David Dreman to make their fortunes. Graham and Dodd’s whole approach was based on one simple premise:… Read More

A private think tank with an all-but unlimited budget… A maverick genius with a history of world-rattling results… A secret Pentagon “skunk works” defense project… And a fuel technology that could not only reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, but also reverse global warming. Read More

Back in November, I recommended three Brazilian stocks I thought were worth owning at the time. Since then, two of the three are outperforming the Brazilian market, with energy giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) up more than 20% to handily beat the iShares MSCI Brazil… Read More

Investing in the U.S. automotive industry is not for the faint-hearted. Given the well-documented woes of the auto industry, a buy-and-hold strategy would have proven disastrous during the past three decades. That’s why it’s important to closely follow and actively trade the stocks. The auto industry is… Read More

Len Riggio must be kicking himself. The chairman — and largest shareholder — of Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) rebuffed a takeover last summer from Ron Burkle of Yucaipa Investments for a reported $20 a share. At the time, I thought any buyer of the beleaguered bookseller… Read More