Portfolio allocation, page-91

Ok - I agree with most of that.

What I don't agree with is the notion that there's a particular category of businesses (cyclical or whatever) that do not merit an 'owner mindset'.

All businesses that spit out earnings (or have pre-existing earnings, such as cash on balance sheet, or any other assets that are surplus to operations) merit an owner mindset - do they not?

In fact, even if you thought the business had a finite life, I do not see why an owner mindset is not warranted. The way I see it, if a business looks like being dead in five years, but will generate cash (and/or has existing assets), such that I anticipate IV>0, then I as an owner may still choose to buy it, and own it for the rest of time (though that time may be cut short by the impending business' funeral).

See? Marriage (even for all time) need not be conditional on whether or not I aim to outlast the business. This comes back to Buffett's mantra that a business is worth the cash it will deliver you to the end of time (discounted at an appropriate rate). Buffett was not just being facetious (I'm fairly sure). It's not a mantra he reserved for 'high quality compounders'.

We all need to develop our own styles and we all have our own preferences. But fundamental truths don't just go away.