Stock Screen: Buy 'Em Like Buffett

[BusinessWeek]

Stock Screen: Buy 'Em Like Buffett

S&P's latest screen tracking the Berkshire Hathaway honcho's investing criteria turns up 49 attractive names

by Howard Silverblatt
September 5, 2008, 12:01AM EST

Warren Buffett has earned a reputation as one of the preeminent value investors of all time. His Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) holding company has stakes in insurance, publishing, retailing, and manufacturing, among other businesses, and more than $28 billion of cash on hand, in addition to $102 billion of securities.

But like others in the financial services industry, Berkshire Hathaway has fallen on troubled times. Its second-quarter earnings report, posted in mid-August, showed a 7.5% decrease in earnings from the year-earlier period, mostly the result of a 43% drop in underwriting profits and a mere 2.6% rise in investment income. In that report, Buffett disclosed he had purchased, for Berkshire's investment portfolio, a new stake in NRG (NRG), and added to already existing stakes in Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and Ingersoll-Rand (IR).

But how does Buffett make his picks? What exactly is "Warren's Way?" In his rare public remarks and widely followed annual letters to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett makes it sound very simple: He says he buys stocks that are "available at a sensible price."
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http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/sep2008/pi2008094_043849.htm

Here are the 49 names that emerged when the screen was completed:

Alcon (ACL)

ASML Holding (ASML)

Autodesk (ADSK)

C.R. Bard (BCR)

Baxter International (BAX)

Becton, Dickinson (BDX)

BG Group (BRGYY)

Brown-Forman (BFB)

Canadian National Railway (CNI)

Charles Schwab (SCHW)

Franklin Resources (BEN)

Freeport-McMoran (FCX)

Garmin (GRMN)

Genentech (DNA)

Grupo Televisa (TV)

Halliburton (HAL)

Infosys Technologies (INFY)

Intercontinental Hotels (IHG)

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Lam Research (LRCX)

McDonald's (MCD)

MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR)

Microsoft (MSFT)

Mobile Telesystems (MBT)

National Semiconductor (NSM)

Novo-Nordisk (NVO)

Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Oracle (ORCL)

Partner Communications (PTNR)

Philadelphia Cons. (PHLY)

Philippine Long Distance (PHI)

Qualcomm (QCOM)

Research in Motion (RIMM)

Reynolds American (RAI)

SAP (SAP)

Satyam Computer Services (SAY)

Schlumberger (SLB)

SEI Investments (SEIC)

Sigma-Aldrich (SIAL)

Stryker (SYK)

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM)

TD Ameritrade (AMTD)

Telefonica (TEF)

Tenaris (TS)

T. Rowe Price (TROW)

Turkcell Iletisim (TKC)

Vimpel Communications (VIP)

Wipro (WIT)

Wolters Kluwer (WTKWY)

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/sep2008/pi2008094_994049.htm

Slide show of the top 25:

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/09/0905_buffett/index.htm