Berkshire Hathaway vs Sears Holdings: The Early Years

The comparisons have been rampant about Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) [Click to launch this SmartLink] and Eddie Lampert's Sears Holdings (SHLD) [Click to launch this SmartLink] . Let's look and rather than comparing the 42 year old Berkshire with the 2 year old Sears in both their current states, let's look at Berkshire's beginnings and take an apples to apples approach when making the comparison.

First things first. This is not a "who is better" look between Buffett and Lampert but a look at the beginning of both businesses and the investment by both owners. Most people do not know about Berkshire's beginnings and if we are going to make the comparison, we need to look back at Warren early experiences so that we can look at Lampert's and draw honest conclusions. One cannot look at the finished product of Berkshire and then look at Sears Holdings, still in its infancy and draw any meaningful comparison. Doing that is a bit like one neighbor with a kid in kindergarten contrasting their child to the neighbors child, a 27 year old doctor and making an effort to discern their own child's future from that. Can't be done.

Read more ...