Buffett’s 1977 letter hints at why he likes Japan trading houses

While Buffett has offered few details on what attracted him to names like Itochu Corp and Mitsui & Co, investors could do worse than look back to his 1977 letter to stockholders, his earliest such note available on Berkshire Hathaway’s website. There, he lays out the business qualities that Berkshire values:

NEW YORK: What does Warren Buffett see in Japan’s biggest trading companies?

The question is making the rounds from Tokyo to Wall Street as investors parse the legendary stock picker’s decision to buy stakes in five Japanese conglomerates whose interests span everything from home-shopping networks to salmon farming.