> Dien, as a fan of Mr. Buffet.. and reader of
> several books on him I thoroughly enjoyed
> reading your post.. Thanks, Josh Hinds :-)

Hi Josh,

Thanks, your comment's made my day. :)

Warren Buffett is one of my personal heroes.... I learned about his investment technique from "The Warren Buffett Way" by Robert Hagstrom, Jr., but there's a whole slew of books out now.... That one book has made me tens of thousands of dollars. I had to put in some effort to understand it though. Often, it's what you do with the knowledge that counts. :)

As I said earlier, Warren Buffett doesn't like the efficient market hypothesis. So he looks for areas where there isn't an "efficient market" -- and TWO of the best places to look are monopolies, and strong brand names.

That's because these companies have "market power" -- they are less subject to competition, and have more control over the prices they can set. They're not badly affected in the "down times" unlike other businesses. People need or want their products, and there's only one place to get it, so generally they're happy to pay whatever price the company charges.

When you look at these two areas for your investments -- especially if you look at companies which are already profitable and are growing -- you can start to reap big rewards. :)

- Dien Rice