When to Sell

By Ramesh Akkineni
We generally sell if we need money for something else. Forty years ago, not wanting to borrow money, I'd reluctantly sell something really cheap to buy something even cheaper. Then I had more ideas than money -- now the situation is reversed. We bought [the stocks we've bought] because of competitive advantages. Now we think, with the companies we sell, that the advantages and strengths may have deteriorated somewhat -- or we might have made a mistake [in buying in the first place]. Take newspapers -- we thought they were impenetrable franchises, but they now seem less so. – Warren Buffett in 2002 annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway

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