The point you should keep in mind is that most of the value of our convertible preferreds is derived from their fixed-income characteristics. That means the securities cannot be worth less than the value they would possess as non-convertible preferreds and may be worth more because of their conversion options.
大家必须特别记住的一点是我们可转换特别股大部分的价值其实是来自于固定收益的特性，这意思是说这些有价证券的价值不可能低于一般不具转换权的特别股，相反地会因为它们拥有可转换的选择权而具有更高的价值。
I deeply regret having to end this section of the report with a note about my friend, Colman Mockler, Jr., CEO of Gillette, who died in January. No description better fitted Colman than "gentleman" - a word signifying integrity, courage and modesty. Couple these qualities with the humor and exceptional business ability that Colman possessed and you can understand why I thought it an undiluted pleasure to work with him and why I, and all others who knew him, will miss Colman so much.
很遗憾我必须在报告末段以我的好朋友Colman Mockler-吉列的CEO在今年一月过世做为结尾，除了「绅士」这个代表品格、勇气与谦和的字，没有其它字更能贴切形容Colman这个人，除了这些特质之外，再加上他所拥有的幽默与超凡的经营能力，所以大家应该可以想象与他共事是多么令人感到愉快的一件事，这也是为何包含我在内的许多人，会对他感到特别怀念的缘故。
A few days before Colman died, Gillette was richly praised in a Forbes cover story. Its theme was simple: The company"s success in shaving products has come not from marketing savvy (though it exhibits that talent repeatedly) but has instead resulted from its devotion to quality. This mind-set has caused it to consistently focus its energies on coming up with something better, even though its existing products already ranked as the class of the field. In so depicting Gillette, Forbes in fact painted a portrait of Colman.
在Colman死之前几天，吉列受到富比士以封面故事大加赞扬，标题很简单，这家公司在刮胡刀产业的成功，不单单只靠行销手段(虽然他们一再展现这方面的能力)，同时更源自于他们对于品质的追求，这种心理建设使得他们持续将精力摆在推出更新更好的产品之上，虽然现有的产品已是市场上最经典的，富比士对于吉列的形容，就好象是在描述Colman本人一样。
Help! Help!救命!救命!
Regular readers know that I shamelessly utilize the annual letter in an attempt to acquire businesses for Berkshire. And, as we constantly preach at the Buffalo News, advertising does work: Several businesses have knocked on our door because someone has read in these pages of our interest in making acquisitions. (Any good ad salesman will tell you that trying to sell something without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark.)
熟悉的读者都知道我经常利用年报不顾廉耻地替Berkshire寻找合适的投资标的，此外我们也常常在水牛城报纸刊登广告征求投资标的，而如此的宣传做法确实也收到效果，有好几家企业收到我们相关的讯息后，上门前来(任何好的业务销售人员都会告诉你不靠广告卖东西就好象是在黑夜里对于女孩扎眼一样没有用)。
In Appendix B (on pages 26-27) I"ve reproduced the essence of a letter I wrote a few years back to the owner/manager of a desirable business. If you have no personal connection with a business that might be of interest to us but have a friend who does, perhaps you can pass this report along to him.
附录B是我回信给一位可能的卖方的摘要，若是你知道那家企业可能会是我们有兴趣的标的，同时你有认识的朋友在那家企业，欢迎你直接将这份资料送给他参考。
Here"s the sort of business we are looking for:
(1) Large purchases (at least $10 million of after-tax earnings),
(2) Demonstrated consistent earning power (future projections are of little interest to us, nor are "turnaround" situations),
(3) Businesses earning good returns on equity while employing little or no debt,
(4) Management in place (we can"t supply it), (5) Simple businesses (if there"s lots of technology, we won"t understand it),
(6) An offering price (we don"t want to waste our time or that of the seller by talking, even preliminarily, about a transaction when price is unknown).
以下就是我们想要找的企业条件
(1)巨额交易(每年税后盈余至少有一千万美元)
(2)持续稳定获利(我们对有远景或具转机的公司没兴趣)
(3)高股东报酬率(并且甚少举债)
(4)具备管理阶层(我们无法提供)
(5)简单的企业(若牵涉到太多高科技，我们弄不懂)
(6)合理的价格(在价格不确定前，我们不希望浪费自己与对方太多时间)
We will not engage in unfriendly takeovers. We can promise complete confidentiality and a very fast answer - customarily within five minutes - as to whether we"re interested. We prefer to buy for cash, but will consider issuing stock when we receive as much in intrinsic business value as we give.
我们不会进行敌意的购并，并承诺完全保密并尽快答复是否感兴趣(通常不超过五分钟) ，我们倾向采现金交易，除非我们所换得的内含价值跟我们付出的一样多，否则不考虑发行股份。