巴菲特致合伙人的信（1970年2月25日）④具体购买什么债券

Specific Areas of Purchase

We will probably concentrate our purchases in the following general areas:
(1) Large revenue-producing public entities such as toll roads, electric power districts, water districts, etc. Many of these issues possess high marketability, are subject to quantitative analysis, and sometimes have favorable sinking fund or other factors which tend not to receive full valuation in the market place.

具体购买什么债券

我们可能会选择购买以下类型的债券：
(1)收费公路、电力、水务等拥有巨额收入的大型公共事业公司发行的债券。许多此类债券的市场活跃程度非常高，很容易对发行主体进行定量分析，有的设有偿债基金，有的还具有其他有利因素，但被市场忽略了，没得到公允估值。

(2)Industrial Development Authority bonds which arise when a public entity holds title to property leased to a private corporation. For example, Lorain, Ohio holds title to an $80 million project for U.S. Steel Corp. The Development Authority Board issued bonds to pay for the project and has executed a net and absolute lease with U.S. Steel to cover the bond payments. The credit of the city or state is not behind the bonds and they are only as good as the company that is on the lease. Many top-grade corporations stand behind an aggregate of several billion dollars of these obligations, although new ones are being issued only in small amounts ($5 million per project or less) because of changes in the tax laws. For a period of time there was a very substantial prejudice against such issues, causing them to sell at yields considerably higher than those commensurate with their inherent credit standing. This prejudice has tended to diminish, reducing the premium yields available, but I still consider it a most attractive field. Our insurance company owns a majority of its bonds in this category.

(2)政府工业发展债券。有的政府部门将资产租赁给私营公司，这些政府部门可以发行此类债券。例如，俄亥俄州洛兰市拥有一个8000万美元的项目，租赁给了美国钢铁公司。政府发展部门发行债券筹集项目所需资金，并与美国钢铁公司签订绝对净租赁合约，用于偿还债券款项。为此类债券做信用背书的不是相关城市或州，这些债券的信用如何，主要取决于承租的公司。此类债券规模有几十亿，背后是许多大公司在支持，但是由于税法的变化，新发行的此类债券规模很小（每个项目平均不到500万美元）。在很长一段时间里，由于人们对此类债券存在很大的偏见，与信用状况类似的债券相比，它们的收益率高得多。人们的这种偏见在逐渐减弱，此类债券的溢价收益率也在降低，但是我觉得它们的收益率还是相当高的。我们的保险公司持有的大部分债券都是这个类型的。

(3)Public Housing Authority Issues for those of you who wish the very highest grade of tax-free bonds. In effect, these bonds bear the guarantee of the U.S. Government, so they are all rated AAA. In states where local taxes put a premium on buying in-state issues, and I can’t fill your needs from (1) and (2) , my tendency would be to put you into Housing Authority issues rather than try to select from among credits that I don't understand. If you direct me to buy obligations of your home state, you should expect substantial quantities of Housing Authority issues. There is no need to diversify among such issues, as they all represent the top credit available.

(3)如果你希望购买评级最高的免税债券，可以选择公共住房管理局发行的品种。这些债券由美国政府担保，它们的评级都是AAA。在有些州，受当地税法影响，本州发行的品种具有溢价，而且前两类债券都不符合你的需求，我会向你推荐公共住房管理局发行的品种，我不会从其他债券中选择，因为我不了解它们的信用状况。要是各位要求我购买你们所在州的债券，提前知会各位一下，我可能购买大量公共住房管理局发行的品种。此类品种用不着分散，它们的信用评级是最高的。

(4)State obligations of a direct or indirect nature.

(4)州政府直接或间接承担的债务。

You will notice I am not buying issues of large cities. I don't have the faintest idea how to analyze a New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. (a friend mentioned the other day when Newark was trying to sell bonds at a very fancy rate that the Mafia was getting very upset because Newark was giving them a bad name). Your analysis of a New York City - and I admit it is hard to imagine them not paying their bills for any extended period of time - would be as good as mine. My approach to bonds is pretty much like my approach to stocks. If I can't understand something, I tend to forget it. Passing an opportunity which I don't understand - even if someone else is perceptive enough to analyze it and get paid well for doing it - doesn't bother me. All I want to be sure of is that I get paid well for the things I do feel capable of handling - and that I am right when I make affirmative decisions.

讲到这，我也没提大城市发行的品种。该如何分析纽约市、芝加哥市、费城，我一无所知。（有一次，一个朋友对我说，纽瓦克市发行了收益率很高的债券，当地的黑手党很不高兴，觉得纽瓦克给他们丢脸了。）就拿纽约市来说，我承认，纽约市不太可能长期拖欠债务，但是要对纽约市进行具体分析，我做的分析不会你做的分析强多少。我研究债券的方法和研究股票差不多。有看不懂的，就跳过去。一个机会，我看不懂，就跳过去，就算别人很高明，能分析明白，而且能赚大钱，我也不在意。我最关心的是：我能从我能看懂的机会里赚钱，把我能做对的判断做对。

We will probably tend to purchase somewhere between five and ten issues for most of you. However, if you wish to limit me to your home state, it may be fewer issues - and perhaps those will only be Housing Authorities. We will try not to buy in smaller than $25,000 pieces and will prefer larger amounts where appropriate. Smaller lots of bonds are usually penalized upon resale, sometimes substantially. The bond salesman doesn't usually explain this to you when you buy the $10,000 of bonds from him, but it gets explained when you later try to sell the $10,000 to him. We may make exceptions where we are buying secondary market issues in smaller pieces - but only if we are getting an especially good price on the buy side because of the small size of the offering.

我们打算给你们大多数人购买5到10个品种。如果你只让我买你所在州的债券，我买的品种会少一些，可能仅限于公共住房管理局发行的债券。我们购买的单笔金额最好不低于25,000美元，规模能大一些的话，还是大一些比较好。小规模的债券在转卖的时候一般会非常吃亏。这个情况，你在买10,000美元的债券的时候，债券推销员一般不告诉你，在你往外卖的时候，他们才和你说。在二级市场，当卖家因为规模较小而给出较低的报价时，我们可能会破例，买入较小规模的债券。