Obviously, one cannot argue with success and proven track record. In this sense, the man of the hour – (who is widely acknowledged as the only billionaire who ever made it to the top of the list of the world’s richest men solely by investing in the stock market) – is Warren Buffett.

Learning about Buffett’s techniques can be had from several sources, but one of my favorites is the book “Buffetology: The Previously Unexplained Techniques That Have Made WARREN BUFFETT the World’s Most Famous Investor” (Buffett M, Clark D. Rawson Associates 1997. New York, NY]  Interestingly, folly (ie, learning from where others have made errors in judgement) and discipline (ie, sticking to one’s set goals even in the face of adversity) were identified as the integral elements of Buffett’s investment philosophy.  The book contains a treasure of information and certainly is a must-have reference from the “master’s perspective” on building wealth over time, and hopefully and most preferably in our lifetime.

Now, there is no other Warren Buffett – YET – and in this article, we will provide a real-world example of a “lifedefining” stock that could have put somebody on the way to being the next Buffett, provided the right decisions were made.  The stock I am referring to is AMGN (Amgen) which from its beginnings in the 1980’s has transformed itself into one of the world’s top 2 largest biotechnology companies in terms of market capitalization.  For purposes of illustration, let us say one purchased $1000 worth of stocks (at which time AMGN stock was worth approximately $5.00/share) in 1990, ie, about 200 shares.  Note that aside from rising in value, AMGN stockholders also benefited from stock splits:

Given the following data on splits and current worth of the stock, such $1000 investment made in 1990 would in August 2007 be worth $470,400 (9600 x $49/share). For more details, please refer to the AMGN chart (max) on yahoo. The economic downturn in 2008-2009 may have led to a decline in the value of the stock, however. Nonetheless, based on long-term historical trends, sound, well-managed companies and stocks should see evemtial recovery once the market fundamentals are conducive for a rebound.

The quest for the next hot stock like AMGN continues so long as man dreams of making it big. Among the key ingredients for success are patience, diligent research, and of course, luck is welcome anytime.  Be well-informed in making decisions, especially in terms of events or matters that will affect your health/wealth (emotional, mental, physical, financial). 

[Note: Mr. Lifedefiner is not affiliated with any stock brokerage company and does not hold any AMGN stocks, which were used only as concrete presentation of the topic discussed.]