XXXX年巴菲特致股东的信（中英对照）

·ResearchCenterforBuffettism Contact [e-mail]@[e-mail]’sCorporatePerformancevs.theS&P500YearAnnualPercentageChangeRelativeResultsinPer-ShareBookValueofBerkshire1inS&P500withDividendsIncludedS&P5002——1965-200920.3%9.3%11.0OverallGain1964-2009434,057%5,430%Notes:Dataareforcalendaryearswiththeseexceptions:1965and1966,yearended9/30;1967,15monthsended12/31.196519669/301967123115Startingin1979,accountingrulesrequiredinsurancecompaniestovaluetheequitysecuritiestheyholdatmarketratherthanatthelowerofcostormarket,whichwaspreviouslytherequirement.Inthistable,Berkshiresresultsthrough1978havebeenrestatedtoconformtothechangedrules.Inallotherrespects,theresultsarecalculatedusingthenumbersoriginallyreported.19791978TheS&P500numbersarepre-taxwhereastheBerkshirenumbersareafter-tax.IfacorporationsuchasBerkshireweresimplytohaveownedtheS&P500andaccruedtheappropriatetaxes,itsresultswouldhavelaggedtheS&P500inyearswhenthatindexshowedapositivereturn,butwouldhaveexceededtheS&P500inyearswhentheindexshowedanegativereturn.Overtheyears,thetaxcostswouldhavecausedtheaggregatelagtobesubstantial.500500:·Ourgaininnetworthduring2009was$21.8billion,whichincreasedtheper-sharebookvalueofbothourClassAandClassBstockby19.8%.Overthelast45years(thatis,sincepresentmanagementtookover)bookvaluehasgrownfrom$19to$84,487,arateof20.3%compoundedannually.*2009·218AB19.8%451984,48720.3%*(*ABA1/1500)Berkshire’srecentacquisitionofBurlingtonNorthernSantaFe(BNSF)hasaddedatleast65,000shareholderstothe500,000orsoalreadyonourbooks.It’simportanttoCharlieMunger,mylong-timepartner,andmethatallofourownersunderstandBerkshire’soperations,goals,limitationsandculture.Ineachannualreport,consequently,werestatetheeconomicprinciplesthatguideus.Thisyeartheseprinciplesappearonpages89-94andIurgeallofyou–butparticularlyournewshareholders–toreadthem.BerkshirehasadheredtotheseprinciplesfordecadesandwillcontinuetodosolongafterI’mgone.(BNSF)506.5——-(CharlieMunger)8994Inthisletterwewillalsoreviewsomeofthebasicsofourbusiness,hopingtoprovidebothafreshmanorientationsessionforourBNSFnewcomersandarefreshercourseforBerkshireveterans.BNSFHowWeMeasureOurselvesOurmetricsforevaluatingourmanagerialperformancearedisplayedonthefacingpage.Fromthestart,CharlieandIhavebelievedinhavingarationalandunbendingstandardfor–orhavenot–accomplished.Thatkeepsusfromthetemptationofseeingwherethearrowofperformancelandsandthenpaintingthebull’seyearoundit.SelectingtheS&P500asourbogeywasaneasychoicebecauseourshareholders,atvirtuallynocost,canmatchitsperformancebyholdinganindexfund.Whyshouldtheypayusformerelyduplicatingthatresult?500AmoredifficultdecisionforuswashowtomeasuretheprogressofBerkshireversustheS&P.Therearegoodargumentsforsimplyusingthechangeinourstockprice.Overanextendedperiodoftime,infact,thatisthebesttest.Butyear-to-yearmarketpricescanbeextraordinarilyerratic.Evenevaluationscoveringaslongasadecadecanbegreatlydistortedbyfoolishlyhighorlowpricesatthebeginningorendofthemeasurementperiod.SteveBallmer,ofMicrosoft,andJeffImmelt,ofGE,cantellyouaboutthatproblem,sufferingastheydofromthenosebleedpricesatwhichtheirstockstradedwhentheywerehandedthemanagerialbaton.50010-(SteveBallmer)-(JeffImmelt)TheidealstandardformeasuringouryearlyprogresswouldbethechangeinBerkshire’sper-shareintrinsicvalue.Alas,thatvaluecannotbecalculatedwithanythingclosetoprecision,soweinsteaduseacrudeproxyforit:per-sharebookvalue.Relyingonthisyardstickhasitsshortcomings,whichwediscussonpages92and93.Additionally,bookvalueatmostcompaniesunderstatesintrinsicvalue,andthatiscertainlythecaseatBerkshire.Inaggregate,ourbusinessesareworthconsiderablymorethanthevaluesatwhichtheyarecarriedonourbooks.Inourall-importantinsurancebusiness,moreover,thedifferenceishuge.Evenso,CharlieandIbelievethatourbookvalue–understatedthoughitis–suppliesthemostusefultrackingdeviceforchangesinintrinsicvalue.Bythis——9293()196520.3%Weshouldnotethathadweinsteadchosenmarketpricesasouryardstick,Berkshire’sresultswouldlookbetter,showingagainsincethestartoffiscal1965of22%compoundedannually.Surprisingly,thismodestdifferenceinannualcompoundingrateleadstoan801,516%market-valuegainfortheentire45-yearperiodcomparedtothebook-valuegainof434,057%(shownonpage2).Ourmarketgainisbetterbecausein1965Berkshiresharessoldatanappropriatediscounttothebookvalueofitsunderearningtextileassets,whereastodayBerkshiresharesregularlysellatapremiumtotheaccountingvaluesofitsfirst-classbusinesses.196522%45801516%434057%()1965Summedup,thetableonpage2