I invested in an oil company.

I convinced myself I would make a fortune. It had found massive reserves of oil in the Middle East. They secured licences from the friendly government and set about raising the finances to put the infrastructure in place.

This was an early stage prospector whose value, once those wells started pumping, would go through the roof — I couldn’t lose.

I lost.

The stock price rocketed (and plummeted) depending on the news. It went up when reserves increased, down when they announced delays. Up when they got more funding, down when they ran out. It was a nerve-racking time. After two -years, I had had enough. I got out.

So what next?

Warren Buffet has famously said he doesn’t invest in anything he doesn’t understand. He has also avoided gold; it does nothing. It sits there looking pretty, subject to the whims of the market.

I was justifiably surprised with the recent news Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway had invested $560 million in a major gold miner.

Which got me thinking.

How do I find out which companies Warren Buffet buys or sells?

Here is what I discovered:

Go to Google and type in ‘Berkshire Hathaway 13f sec’

Click on the link for Berkshire Hathaway.

This takes you to the company filings for Berkshire Hathaway. Look at the right-hand side, where it says ‘filing date’, to make sure you are getting the latest information.

Now look down the list on the left-hand and find an entry for ‘Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities’.

Click on ‘documents’.

Going through each of these and click on ‘reporting’.

This will take you to a list of what the company and its directors buy/sell.

For example, this link will take you to the filings I found from Warren buffet.

To find his latest buys and sells, simply follow the above instructions

Good luck with your investments.

mmcewan@madasafish.com