英文早讀第126篇，選自巴菲特年度信，友才翻譯。
Such statistical bargains have tended to disappear over the years. This may be due to the constant combing and recombing of investments that occurred during the past twenty years, without an economic convulsion such as that of the ‘30s to create a negative bias toward equities and spawn hundreds of new bargain securities. It may be due to the new growing social acceptance, and therefore usage (or maybe it's vice versa - I'll let the behaviorists figure it out) of takeover bids which have a natural tendency to focus on bargain issues. It may be due to exploding ranks of security analysts bringing forth an intensified scrutiny of issues far beyond what existed some years ago. Whatever the cause, the result has been the virtual disappearance of the bargain issue as determined quantitatively - and thereby of our bread and butter. There still may be a few from time to time. There will also be the occasional security where I am really competent to make an important qualitative judgment. This will offer our best chance for large profits. Such instances will, however, be rare. Much of our good performance during the past three years has been due to a single idea of this sort.
這些統(tǒng)計上的便宜貨傾向于過幾年消失了。這或許因為對過去20年發(fā)生的投資不斷地梳理和再梳理，而沒有一個經(jīng)濟動蕩類似于30年代產(chǎn)生的對股份負面偏見并造成數(shù)百個新的廉價證券。這或許因為新增長的對收購要約的社會接受度，使用也增長了（或許正好相反，我想讓行為主義者去弄清他們吧），而收購要約本能傾向于聚焦便宜貨。這或許因為爆炸的股票評級分析師帶來了遠超過去這些年存在的加強的審查。不管使什么原因，結果使作為定量決策的便宜貨真正的消失——也這是我們吃飯的家伙?；蛟S仍然是不是有一些。也會有一些巧合的股票我真的勝任去做定性判斷。這會為我們超額利潤提供絕佳機會。不過，這樣的例子很罕見。在過去三年，我們大多數(shù)好的表現(xiàn)都源自于這一類的標的。
The next point of difficulty is the intensified interest in investment performance. For years I have preached the importance of measurement. Consistently I have told partners that unless our performance was better than average, the money should go elsewhere. In recent years this idea has gained momentum througout the investment (or more importantly, the investing) community. In the last year or two it has started to look a bit like a tidal wave. I think we are witnessing the distortion of a sound idea.
下一個點的困難是對投資表現(xiàn)增強的興趣。這些年我一直宣導衡量的重要性。我不斷告訴合伙人除非我們的表現(xiàn)優(yōu)于平均水平，否則這些資金就應該去向別處。最近這些年這個想法在投資（或者更重要的，投資人）社區(qū)勢頭增長強勁。在過去一兩年他開始像是一個潮流。我認為我們都在目睹這個合理理念的扭曲。
I have always cautioned partners that I considered three years a minimum in determining whether we were "performing". Naturally, as the investment public has taken the bit in its teeth, the time span of expectations has been consistently reduced to the point where investment performance by large aggregates of money is being measured yearly, quarterly, monthly, and perhaps sometimes even more frequently (leading to what is known as "instant research"). The payoff for superior short term has become enormous, not only in compensation for results actually achieved, but in the attraction of new money for the next round. Thus a self-generating type of activity has set in which leads to larger and larger amounts of money participating on a shorter and shorter time span. A disturbing corollary is that the vehicle for participation (the particular companies or stocks) becomes progressively less important - at times virtually incidental - as the activity accelerates.
我一直提醒合伙人我認為三年時決定我們是否有所“表現(xiàn)”的最短時限。自然地，投資公眾咬著牙，預期的時間跨度持續(xù)的減少到投資表現(xiàn)被大量的前以年度、季度、月度，甚至有時更加頻繁（導致所謂的“即時研究”）。為短期優(yōu)秀表現(xiàn)支付的回報是巨大的，不僅僅是實際實現(xiàn)結果的報酬，還有在吸引下一輪新資金上。因此自我驅動型的活動導致越來越多的前參與到越來越短的時間跨度。擾亂的結果是參與的載體（特定公司或股票）變得漸漸不重要——有時實際上像是附帶的——當這個舉動增強時。
15.statistical：統(tǒng)計的；統(tǒng)計學的
16.combing：梳理；搜尋
17.convulsion：抽搐；動亂；騷動
18.bias：偏見；偏向；偏愛；偏心
19.equity：公平；公正；股本；資產(chǎn)凈值
20.spawn：產(chǎn)卵；引發(fā)；導致；造成；引起
21.usage：使用；用法；利用率
22.intensify：加強；增強；強化
23.scrutiny：仔細檢查；認真徹底的審查
24.virtual：實質上的；事實上的；很接近的
25.competent：有能力的；合格的；稱職的
26.momentum：勢頭；動量；動力；沖力
27.tidal：潮汐的；有潮的
28.distortion：扭曲；失真；變形
29.payoff：報酬；結果；結局
30.enormous：巨大的；龐大的；極大的
31.compensation：補償；賠償
32.corollary：推論；必然的結果
33.incidental：次要的；附帶發(fā)生的；伴隨而來的；非有意的
34.sound idea：合理理念
