Right now, the prices of the fine businesses we already own are just not that attractive. In other words, we feel much better about the businesses than their stocks.
(แปลว่าราคาแพง)
That's why we haven't added to our present holdings. (จึงไม่ซื้อเพิ่ม)
Nevertheless, we haven't yet scaled back our portfolio in a major way:(แต่ก็ไม่ขาย)
If the choice is between a questionable business at a comfortable price (ถ้าต้องเลือก บ.? ราคาถูก)
or a comfortable business at a questionable price, we much prefer the latter. (กับ บ.เลิศ ในราคา?? ..จะเลือกอันหลัง
What really gets our attention, however, is a comfortable business at a comfortable price.
If we have a strength, it is in recognizing when we are operating well within our circle of competence and when we are approaching the perimeter. Predicting the long-term economics of companies that operate in fast-changing industries is simply far beyond our perimeter. If others claim predictive skill in those industries -- and seem to have their claims validated by the behavior of the stock market -- we neither envy nor emulate them. Instead, we just stick with what we understand. If we stray, we will have done so inadvertently, not because we got restless and substituted hope for rationality. Fortunately, it's almost certain there will be opportunities from time to time for Berkshire to do well within the circle we've staked out.
Right now, the prices of the fine businesses we already own are just not that attractive. In other words, we feel much better about the businesses than their stocks. That's why we haven't added to our present holdings. Nevertheless, we haven't yet scaled back our portfolio in a major way: If the choice is between a questionable business at a comfortable price or a comfortable business at a questionable price, we much prefer the latter. What really gets our attention, however, is a comfortable business at a comfortable price.
Our reservations about the prices of securities we own apply also to the general level of equity prices. We have never attempted to forecast what the stock market is going to do in the next month or the next year, and we are not trying to do that now. But, as I point out in the enclosed article, equity investors currently seem wildly optimistic in their expectations about future returns.