There’s a compelling case that Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all time. The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ has embraced an unwavering commitment to value investing principles for decades, with tremendous success.
Recent S&P 500 turbulence has resulted in many billionaires experiencing drops in their wealth this year. But the Berkshire Hathaway CEO isn’t one of them, having made his pockets $23bn deeper in 2025. He’s now the world’s sixth-richest person with a net worth of $165bn.
Here are three pieces of investing wisdom I’ve learnt from Warren Buffett.
Should you invest £1,000 in Occidental Petroleum right now?
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Invest for the long term
Buffett became a billionaire at 56. Over 99% of his wealth was accumulated after he turned 65. In case readers were in doubt, there’s hard evidence right there that a long-term investing approach can reap considerable rewards. That’s the Foolish way.
The reason for this is the power of compound returns. A well-chosen mix of stocks can generate exponential growth for investors with sufficient patience to endure the inevitable stock market dips, corrections, and crashes that will occur.
Adopting strategies like reinvesting dividends into more shares can aid this process. Although it’s tempting to spend cash handouts, investors who funnel distributions back into the stock market can be treated to a taste of Warren Buffett’s ‘secret sauce’.
Buy wonderful companies
Warren Buffett refers to “wonderful companies” as his ideal investments. Such firms have wide moats and are leaders in their respective sectors. Rather than obsessing over daily share price fluctuations, investors should understand the core businesses they’re considering.
Impressive management teams, consistent earnings growth, and strong cash flow generation are hallmarks of these stocks. Investors who can mimic a fraction of Buffett’s success at identifying great businesses will likely be handsomely compensated.
Manage risk
Understanding potential pitfalls is another important lesson. Stock market investing demands taking on risk. Enduring share price volatility is the price investors pay when seeking long-term capital growth.
Maintaining emotional discipline is essential. Instead of following unsubstantiated hype around the latest hot growth stock, it pays to be patient and wait for the chance to buy an undervalued stock.
Indeed, Berkshire Hathaway has doubled its cash pile to $334bn in a year. When Buffett’s busy building cash reserves, it suggests there are a lot of expensive stocks in the market currently.
Warren Buffett’s favourite energy stock
That said, one stock Buffett has been buying recently is hydrocarbon exploration business Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY).
Investors had plenty to cheer in the company’s Q4 results. Oil production soared 18.5% from the previous year, reaching 1.46m barrels per day.
Furthermore, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.80 comfortably beat market expectations for $0.68. It’s also encouraging to see deleveraging efforts bearing fruit. A $4.5bn debt repayment means the balance sheet’s in better shape.
President Trump’s agenda to “drill, baby, drill” could bode well for Occidental’s future, considering 80% of its production is US-based. However, there’s a risk this could apply downward pressure on oil prices, which might hurt the company’s bottom line. Some analysts have also raised concerns about high decline rates for shale wells in the Permian Basin, which is vital to the business.
Nonetheless, with the stock trading for less than 13.5 times forward earnings, I can see why Buffett’s a fan.
