Picking great companies for the long run

[SailorRob]

Not to sound to churlish... but to save myself reseaching essentially the entire world. I would go:

1. NZX50
2. ASX200
3. SPDR S&P Emerging Asia Pacific
4. S&P500
5. FTSE100

Will probably beat everyone elses picks.

[SailorRob]

I want to buy at least one great business in each country in the following list using my Kiwi saver fund.

1. NZ
2. Australia
3. Asia which include Singapore,Malaysia or Hongkong
4. USA
5. UK


My criteria

Good Projected profitability(Future earnings)
Instrinsic value
Favorable asset allocation
Capital structue
Long term growth or going concern

What would be your choice? Highly appreciate your analysis.Thank you in advance.

1. OCA
2. Don't know
3. C K Hutchinson
4. Berkshire Hathaway
5. Unilever

[davflaws]

The only social responsibility of businesses is to produce a profit for their shareholders

And to scream blue murder when society (in the form of Government) regulates their activities for the common good.

[SailorRob]

And to scream blue murder when society (in the form of Government) regulates their activities for the common good.

No, that is a critical part of the equation as well.

They must produce profit while abiding by the laws they operate under.

Mostly the government (specially ours) regulates against the common good.

The common good is to produce as many goods and services as possible (think operations and medical equipment, housing and transport) and make sure they are distributed fairly (note I did not say equally).

We need a massive abundance of everything.

[davflaws]

I must say I am pretty impressed with your posts ValueNZ, particularly considering your age.

You are exactly right. Justakiwis response is a part of how the company will produce a profit. But not their responsibility.

What virtually everyone forgets in this woke world is that 'Profit' far from being a dirty word, is in fact the best word in the English language.

And that is because it is simply a measure of how efficiently resources are used to create goods and services that people want to buy (or really swap what they produce for).

The more billionaires there are means the more cool stuff has been created and produced for the masses to enjoy.

Capitalism is incredibly efficient at producing goods and services, but unregulated capitalism is crap at ensuring an equitable distribution of the goods and services produced. Unregulated capitalism inevitably produces and exacerbates inequality and everyone (not only those on the bottom) loses out.

For me, the issue is not whether capitalism should be regulated, but rahter how and how much.

[ValueNZ]

I must say I am pretty impressed with your posts ValueNZ, particularly considering your age.

You are exactly right. Justakiwis response is a part of how the company will produce a profit. But not their responsibility.

What virtually everyone forgets in this woke world is that 'Profit' far from being a dirty word, is in fact the best word in the English language.

And that is because it is simply a measure of how efficiently resources are used to create goods and services that people want to buy (or really swap what they produce for).

The more billionaires there are means the more cool stuff has been created and produced for the masses to enjoy.

Thanks SailorRob. My post was as a result of countless hours watching Milton Friedman videos on youtube haha. I get my political views from libertarian sources like ReasonTV and John Stossel videos, where as I get my views on investing from videos of shareholder meetings from Berkshire Hathaway, reading the intelligent investor, and reading various sources online. I don't agree with Warren Buffetts view on taxation and the role of government, but he is a legendary investor that I admire.

[SailorRob]

Thanks SailorRob. My post was as a result of countless hours watching Milton Friedman videos on youtube haha. I get my political views from libertarian sources like ReasonTV and John Stossel videos, where as I get my views on investing from videos of shareholder meetings from Berkshire Hathaway, reading the intelligent investor, and reading various sources online. I don't agree with Warren Buffetts view on taxation and the role of government, but he is a legendary investor that I admire.

What are your views on the role of government and taxation?

Remember Mungers wise words, he tells young people to avoid intense ideology. Why?There’s a limit to how much you can truly understand vicariously, even for those who really try.

Life experience punches you in the face in a way that reading biographies does not.You don’t know enough about the world at 25 or 30 to be sure of anything let alone 18.

Pick your absolutist political position and as the years go by you’ll see examples and edge cases where absolutism does not work.If you tie your identity to a political philosophy too early, when you’re punched in the face you’ll rationalize it rather than learn from it.

I’m not mentioning any specific political positions but most of the absolutist positions on hot button issues do not survive being punched in the face.

[justakiwi]

But if a company’s responsibility to shareholders is to (eventually) make a profit, then how they may the profit is part of that responsibility - isn’t it?

Justakiwis response is a part of how the company will produce a profit. But not their responsibility.

[SailorRob]

But if a company’s responsibility to shareholders is to (eventually) make a profit, then how they may the profit is part of that responsibility - isn’t it?

Semantics, yes you are right.

[ValueNZ]

What are your views on the role of government and taxation?

Remember Mungers wise words, he tells young people to avoid intense ideology. Why?There’s a limit to how much you can truly understand vicariously, even for those who really try.

Life experience punches you in the face in a way that reading biographies does not.You don’t know enough about the world at 25 or 30 to be sure of anything let alone 18.

Pick your absolutist political position and as the years go by you’ll see examples and edge cases where absolutism does not work.If you tie your identity to a political philosophy too early, when you’re punched in the face you’ll rationalize it rather than learn from it.

I’m not mentioning any specific political positions but most of the absolutist positions on hot button issues do not survive being punched in the face.

The role of government should be limited to upholding the rights of individuals such as private property, free speech, liberty ect. Taxation should be limited to ensuring these rights are upheld. I'm not the type to call taxation "theft" rather than a necessary evil.

Warren Buffett doesn't believe the rich are taxed enough in the US, despite the top 1% paying 42.3% of income taxes in 2020. I believe that the wealthy in aggregate pay more than their fair share. That isn't to say there aren't cases where rich people are able to work the tax system to their favour, and pay an amount which is unfair to the rest of society. The tax rules should be simplified as much as possible to avoid this happening.

I don't believe I'm absolutist in my views about much, rather I attempt to examine arguments by their merit. I agree it is something to be mindful at all times however, since people are subject to cognitive biases and falling for logical fallacies.