The best buys have been when the numbers almost tell you not to. Because then you feel so strongly about the product. And not just the fact you are getting a used cigar butt cheap. Then it is compelling.

最值得买的公司，是那些你觉得从数字上看很贵，舍不得买，但还是很想买的公司。这说明你太看好这家公司的产品了。这样的公司不是别人抽剩了、扔掉的烟头，而是让人难以抗拒的好生意。

In terms of the qualitative, I probably understand the qualitative the moment I get the phone call. Almost every business we have bought has taken five or ten minutes in terms of analysis.

在定性方面，我在电话里和对方聊几句，就能把定性因素搞明白。我们买入的所有公司，我们花在分析上的时间都只有五分钟、十分钟左右。

If you don’t know enough to know about the business instantly, you won’t know enough in a month or in two months. You have to have sort of the background of understanding and knowing what you do or don’t understand. That is the key. It is defining your circle of competence.

一门生意，要是你不能一眼看懂，再花一两个月的时间，你还是看不懂。要看懂一门生意，必须有足够的背景知识才行，而且要清楚自己知道什么，不知道什么。这是关键。我常说的能力圈就是这个意思，要清楚自己的能力圈。

Everybody has got a different circle of competence. The important thing is not how big the circles, the important thing is the size of the circle; the important thing is staying inside the circle. And if that circle only has 30 companies in it out of 1000s on the big board, as long as you know which 30 they are, you will be OK. And you should know those businesses well enough so you don’t need to read lots of work. Now I did a lot of work in the earlier years just getting familiar with businesses and the way I would do that is use what Phil Fisher would call, the “Scuttlebutt Approach.” 

每个人都有自己的能力圈，重要的不是能力圈有多大，而是待在能力圈的范围之内。如果主板中有几千家公司，你的能力圈只涵盖其中的 30 家，只要你清楚是哪 30 家，就可以了。你要对这 30 家公司特别了解，不是说你要读很多东西，做很多功课，才能把它们弄明白。我年轻的时候，为了熟悉各行各业的公司，做过大量功课。我做功课的方法是和菲利普•费雪学的，所谓的“四处打听”的方法。

I have done that in the past on the business I felt I could understand so I don’t have to do that anymore. The nice thing about investing is that you don’t have to learn anything new.

我年轻的时候挑我觉得自己能看懂的公司，下了很大功夫，现在用不着重新做功课了。这是做投资的一个好处，不是一出来什么新东西，就一定要跟着学。