伯克希尔1994年年会问答精选（6）

每年5月份，初夏，在美国小镇奥马哈，沃伦巴菲特和查理芒格都会举行长达6小时的伯克希尔哈撒韦公司年会。年会上有个传统环节，由股东现场提问，巴菲特和芒格现场回答。这个环节占用了年会绝大部分时间，里面很多问题都非常有趣，包含了看待事物的方式、人生哲理、投资方法。

目前能搜罗到的伯克希尔年会问答实录，从1994到2023合共三十年，当时读的是中文翻译的版本。读完之后想再读，但我想既然再读为啥不直接读英文原版呢，于是找到了英文原版重读，同时这次做了一些精彩的摘录。当然了，其他部分也很精彩，只是我对这些摘录更有共鸣，你去读有共鸣的部分肯定是不一样的，所以推荐大家去读全文。这份问答录适合想在生活中和工作中获得长久的独立、充实、理性、愉悦的人。

人生中能找到一个品行卓越的老师，并且他还可以以某种方式深入地影响你，是一辈子最幸运的事情。沃伦巴菲特找到了本格雷厄姆，查理芒格找到了本杰明富兰克林。

以下以摘录的形式，把某个问题的原文原封不动摘录下来，然后某些段落后面加上我自己的感想。

————

“Unlikely to write put options on Coca-Cola again”

WARREN BUFFETT: Zone 1?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Warren, I have one question.

Last year you were using Coca-Cola puts as a way to increase income, and conversely, if they were exercised, as a way of increasing your position. Do you still use puts in this type on investments you wish to add to?

(BREAK IN RECORDING)

WARREN BUFFETT: — five million shares, as I remember, of Coke sometime in the early fall or thereby — I don’t remember exactly — last year. And the puts, I think the premium was around 7 1/2 million dollars, and they were priced around 35.

We have not done that very often, and we’re unlikely to do very much of it. For one thing, there are position limits on puts, which don’t apply to us, but they apply to the brokers for which we do them. And those position limits were not clear before that. But we could probably write puts on that same amount by doing it through a bunch of different brokers.

It’s not something we’re really very likely to do. I was happy to do it, and in that particular case, we made 7 1/2 million dollars.

But we’re better off, probably — if we like something well enough to write a put on it, we’re probably better off buying the security itself, and particularly since we can’t do it in the kind of quantities that really would make it meaningful to Berkshire.

巴菲特和芒格都很讨厌衍生品，因为衍生品跟杠杆密不可分，而杠杆往往又是破产的必备条件。所以，以正确的心态来看待衍生品，非常重要。大多数衍生品的实质就是一份保险，这里说到的是一种常见的衍生品叫PUT（看空期权）。巴菲特SELL PUT（卖出看空期权）也就是相当于卖给了对方一份保险，这份保险承诺在某个日期前，如果股票价格跌到某个价位，如果对方行权的情况下自己会买入对方持有的多少多少股票。相对应地，对方需要支付给巴菲特一点期权金，也就是“保险费”。巴菲特操作的手法是，他非常看好可口可乐公司，同时愿意在某个日期前以35美金这个价位买入更多的可口可乐股票，同时也拥有足够的资本去买入这些股票。当他已经想清楚了这些事情，这时候可以选择SELL PUT来额外赚取一些保险费收益，来降低自己的买入成本。但是他紧接着也说，如果真的长期看好一家公司，他更倾向于直接买入这家公司的股票而不是SELL PUT。因为，SELL PUT并不能保证你买到这家公司的股票，需要跌到一定的价格，也需要对方行权。当看好一家公司的时候，如果为了一点点小钱而影响了你在合适的价位买入这家公司的股票，那实际上是捡了芝麻丢了西瓜。核心的核心，还是他是以买入公司的心态来去使用衍生品的，而不是依靠衍生品来赚大钱，也不在衍生品上放任何的杠杆（有足够的自有资金去买入衍生品背后的股票）。做衍生品很重要的是不能把衍生品本身当成是目的来操作，也就是说不要想着在衍生品上赚多少钱，如果把手段当成目的，这是非常危险的一种做法。离破产也就不远了。

There are securities I would not mind writing puts for 10 million shares or something, but I — that probably — it’s probably allowable for us to do it. It’s not allowed — we’d probably have to do it through multiple brokers to get the job done.

And on balance, I don’t think it’s as useful a way to spend my time as just looking for securities to buy outright.

Charlie, you have anything?

CHARLIE MUNGER: No.