F Wall Street is a value investing blog centered on investing in stocks by following the advice and teachings of Warren Buffett. It offers insight into company valuations, clarifies investment misconceptions, and provides various other insights into investing, Warren Buffett, and other things that come across my mind.

The site was originally launched on June 25, 2007 with the intention of building a history of posts and support for readers of F Wall Street (Adams Media, coming soon). The site accidentally took off. Now, tens of thousands of non-conventional investors around the world come together each week on F Wall Street.

F Wall Street posts have appeared on CNBC's Warren Buffett Watch, Yahoo! Finance, Seeking Alpha, and many other financial sites and blogs. F Wall Street is not a place to get stock tips; rather, it is a resource to investors yearning to learn how to invest like Warren Buffett—ignoring the stock market, valuing businesses, and comfortably and confidently investing for the long-term.

General Views On Investing

I have self-studied thousands of methods of investing—long-term, short-term, trading, stocks, options, real estate—yes, the list goes on. In my ongoing quest to find a way to beat the markets, one name kept ringing in my ear—Warren Buffett, the world's greatest investor. Everyone talked about him—praised him. And yet not one person could tell me how to ignore the stock market, ignore yearly results, or buy businesses instead of renting stocks—all those neat things Buffett has been telling us for more than fifty years.

Buffett tells us, "Price is what you pay; value is what you get." Essentially, every business has a value. If you know the value of the company, you know at what price to buy its stock. If you know how to track the value, you'll know what to expect from your businesses—and your stock portfolio. Price always follows value in the long run.

As far as you are concerned, the stock market does not exist. Ignore it. - Warren Buffett

My goal here is to help you learn how to find wonderful businesses and figure out their value. Only then will you check the stock price to see if you can buy a great business at a fair or bargain price.

My First Investing Experience

I've been there with you. In 1998, on my father's recommendation, I brought one of his advisers a check for $1,500 to open a Roth IRA. The adviser happily took the check, showed me a chart of a mutual fund he liked, and explained how I could take more risk because I was young. The way he sold it to me, more risk meant more money—sounded good to me!

It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results. - Warren Buffett

A few months later, I brought the adviser another check—this time for $500 to "max out" my Roth IRA for the year. He took the check, cashed it, and skipped the country the next day. A year later, my Roth IRA was worth $350. I was disgusted.

My $500,000 Per Year Paycut

I shook off my first investing experience pretty quickly. After all, everyone I knew was utterly destroyed in the markets. I was, relatively speaking, not doing too bad, down only $1,650 (ouch, don't say 83%, it sounds bad). But I knew I'd be okay—I was in college, studying premed, on my way to the lavish life of medicine (don't laugh doctors).

Then, something hit me. Actually, Rome hit me. After a semester abroad, I no longer wanted to study medicine—I was going to be a teacher. Shortly after Rome hit me, reality did. From doctor to teacher was a paycut—a big paycut. Wanting the teacher's career, but not the teacher's salary, I decided it was time to learn how to save and invest.

I Read A Book...

It was unusually warm that January in Florida. On vacation with my father, brother, and uncles, I sat on the veranda every morning, hanging on every word the author said. Looking back, it was the worst investment book I've ever read. But at the time, it was gold. Returning to Chicago, I eagerly placed my first trade.

I lost money.

Back To The Drawing Board

Something was missing. I did exactly what the author said—followed his advice to the letter. And there I was, $500 poorer. Rather than continue down that path, I invested in something better—books. Ironic, considering that I had just lost money in Barnes & Noble stock.

Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote. - Warren Buffett

I was a blockhead. So, I started reading everything I could—two, three, four books a week. As the internet grew, so too did my learning. But I hit a wall. Everyone said different things. They focused on different concepts. I had to go to the source. So, in 2000, I went to work for Wall Street.

They Didn't Like Me

Over the next two years, I worked for two of Wall Street's firms. I stuck out like a sore thumb. They were trying to teach me how to sell investments to anyone with a pulse, I wanted to learn how to invest. Every chance I got, I would challenge authority—put management to the test. And every time, I got the same response: Focus on selling right now, learn investing later.

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. - Upton Sinclair

Continuing my self-study, I quickly realized that Wall Street had little to offer the person who wanted to know how to invest.

I Went Out On My Own

In January of 2002, having finally developed a solid investment philosophy and seeing that Wall Street could not offer me anything, I decided to venture off on my own. I couldn't stand the thought of spending my life chasing down big money clients and listening to firms drone on about mutual funds while regular people—people like my friends and family—were largely ignored.

I decided to open an independent investment adviser firm in Chicago—a firm dedicated to helping "real" people achieve real dreams. Our foundation was extremely humble. I invite you to check out our story.

A Bit Of Charity

I spend about five hours a week at The Sheridan Carroll Charitable Works Fund, a Chicago food pantry. We feed some 2,400 people a month. If you can find it in your heart, donate a few bucks. You can't take it with you when you're gone. If you call or email them, feel free to let them know you are a friend of mine.

How's Your Boat?

It is only appropriate that I close with another Buffett quote. Read the following in light of your personal financial goals and situation:

Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks. - Warren Buffett