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The
following extract is from
'Benjamin
Graham on Value Investing'
By Janet Lowe
p199
- 200
Knowing
the Bible, Chapter and Verse
William Ruane
tells the story of when Warren Buffett was asked to testiy on behalf of
IBM in that company's long-fought antitrust battle. "Warren was on
the stand for two days. It was wonderful to watch," Ruane said.
The prosecution's
questions lead to an exchange on Buffett's adherence to the principles
put forth by Graham and Dodd in Security Analysis. "Would you agree
with everything in the book?" Ruane said.
"Absolutely,"
Buffett replied.
"Tell me," the prosecutor continued. "Do you agree with
this definition of depreciation?" he then read aloud.
"No, I don't. That's wrong," Buffett said.
"I want you to know that the statement's directly out of Security
Analysis," the prosecutor declared.
"Tell me," Buffett replied. "What edition is that?"
There was a brief recess while the attorney fetched the book and determined
that it was the fourth edition.
"I thought so," said Buffett. "That's in Chapter [14] and
that wasn't written by Ben Graham, but Sidney Cottle. Cottle got it wrong."
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