Dear fellow investor, I know markets have been volatile (and scary) the last several days with bank failures in the news, but I want to take a moment and share something incredible. A 3.7 million percent return. Just imagine it. It’s the stuff of dreams. The “big one.” But for one man, it’s just daily reality. Because as of the end of 2022, Berkshire Hathaway stock has returned 3,736,750% since Warren Buffett became chairman in 1965. Enough to outperform the U.S. S&P 500 by 146x.

Chart refers to U.S. market.

But what’s even more remarkable is that Berkshire’s only rarely had a down year. In fact, over the last 57 years of Buffett’s stewardship, Berkshire Hathaway stock only ended the year down 11 times. And the last time Berkshire stock finished a year down? 2015. While the U.S. S&P 500 lost 19% last year and the Nasdaq lost 33%, Berkshire Hathaway stock gained 4%.

Chart refers to U.S. market.

Now, because of this simply incredible track record, it’s no surprise that everyone wants to know: How does Berkshire do it? And while Buffett is famous for his annual letters as chairman of Berkshire, which are chock full of investing wisdom… The specific details of the Berkshire team’s investing process have always proved… elusive. That all changed on November 4, 2022. When Berkshire lieutenant Todd Combs spoke at a private breakfast hosted by Columbia Business School. Combs revealed new details of his private conversations with Buffett — including three specific questions Buffett asks when evaluating stocks. I believe these three deceptively simple questions are absolutely mission-critical information for any investor looking to follow what we call “The Berkshire Way.” And in a few minutes, that’ll bring me to a special announcement… But first, let’s dive in on those questions! We now have confirmation of the specific forward valuation the Berkshire team looks for when making investing decisions. And it’s a restrictive number! To give you a sense of just how restrictive — a simple S&P Capital IQ screen for stocks in the U.S. S&P 500 with forward Price/Earnings ratios of 15 or less yields just 173 stocks.

Chart refers to U.S. market.

What’s more – you’ll find a lot of U.S. Fool favorites are removed right off the top. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Tesla — all of them have a forward P/E above 15. That’s not to say these are bad companies or that anyone should necessarily sell them — we absolutely, 100% stand by our bullish calls on them. But it’s just to make clear that the Berkshire team is looking for pretty different stocks here than The Motley Fool is known best for. And the Amazons and Teslas aren’t the only stocks that disappear with such a screen — Domino’s, Dollar Tree, The Home Depot, Walmart, all have a forward P/E above 15 as well. This is where subjectivity really comes in. And judgement. The main point? This 90% confidence or conviction in an estimate of earnings growth requires that you know a company COLD. You have to be extremely confident that you understand how it fits into broader sector and economic cycles — and the business has to be highly predictable. (Which fits in with a lot of what we’ve observed in Berkshire’s behavior over the years.) That need for predictability is another reason why you probably won’t see too many tech stocks on Berkshire’s radar when using this screen — because tech earnings can be incredibly volatile and difficult to predict, and because tech doesn’t necessarily follow all the same cycles of other businesses. It’s hard to predict many things in tech with a personal feeling of 90% certainty, especially with a specific timeline of five years. This focus on stocks that can compound at 7% is a pretty big revelation. Taken in tandem with the forward P/E of 15 (which implies a roughly 7% earnings yield), that implies that Berkshire’s team is targeting stocks they believe can deliver a roughly 14% annual rate of return.

Now, this brings us to the big question I’m sure you’re asking:

So how many stocks do we believe check all three boxes right now?

Just six. Just six stocks in the whole U.S. S&P 500! Which brings me to that big announcement I mentioned. Because as you know if you joined our in-depth presentation earlier… We’re finally ready to go live with our findings and these six stocks.

Introducing The Motley Fool’s newest investing report: The Berkshire Framework: 6 Top Stocks to Buy Right Now

Member Exclusive

It’s jam-packed with critical information, including:

The names and tickers of the top six stocks in the U.S. S&P 500 that met the rigorous criteria we’ve discussed during our “Berkshire Way” presentation.

Detailed in-depth writeups and analysis on each of those companies from the big picture opportunity down to why we think this business works, why we think it’s worth an investment today, and more.

All yours when you become a member of The Partnership Portfolio today. That’s right…

We’re including “The Berkshire Framework: 6 Top Stocks to Buy Right Now”… For FREE to everyone who joins The Partnership Portfolio through this exclusive offer today!

Here’s the deal: Normally, we’d charge $600 for this report. And given the extensive research that went into it… I think you’ll agree that’s more than fair. Well… Today we’re including it FREE of charge to everyone who joins The Partnership Portfolio through this exclusive offer. So, let’s take just a moment to talk about The Partnership Portfolio… It’s an investment solution dedicated to bringing members some of the most exciting stock ideas — and, in our opinion, the sheer highest-potential, best-run, founder-led companies — across the U.S. and Canada… All of which have been fully vetted and researched by your Motley Fool Canada team. And we do mean high conviction…

In fact, in order for a company to be included The Partnership Portfolio, the Motley Fool Canada team must believe the stock has 500% or even more upside potential over the next decade.

By installing this strict, high-upside criterion, we think we’ve been able to identify some of the most visionary CEOs in the market today — we’re talking about modern-day leaders we see following in Buffett’s footsteps like:

A brilliant, top-of-his-game, 65-year-old founder who was not only one of the earliest investors in Google (demonstrating his unbeatable eye for high-upside tech opportunities) but is now running his own show with a revolutionary open network operating system that’s servicing the world’s largest companies as we speak.

A 44-year-old founder who’s leading the charge to disrupt a US$725 billion advertising industry. With his personal stake in the company already worth billions, we believe this trailblazing founder is “all in” on stealing market share from slow-moving competitors.

A 37-year-old founder who’s running a small US company that has been growing like gangbusters, using one of the most innovative subscription business models I’ve seen since Netflix reinvented movie rentals 20 years ago.

Those are just three examples of the amazing companies and brilliant, Buffett-like founders that you’ll have access to the moment you respond to this limited-time invitation and secure your access to The Partnership Portfolio. And while many of the higher-upside holdings inside of The Partnership Portfolio can often be more volatile than sleepy blue-chips, you can be sure we’re recommending only companies we believe you can rest easy at night owning…

Because Motley Fool Canada is investing its own money right alongside you!

In fact, inside The Partnership Portfolio, you’ll discover Motley Fool Canada’s biggest and most valuable real-money portfolio — in which we’ve invested real company cash into our recommendations! All in all, we’ve already committed $633,179. Simply put, we believe this real-money investment demonstrates the strength of our conviction with these picks… And shows how much we truly believe The Partnership Portfolio is a helpful investing solution designed to help expose you to Motley Fool Canada’s highest-conviction, founder-led companies. And as you’re likely aware, many other investment services across the globe just love doling out their “brilliant” investment advice… tips… tricks… picks… strategies… etc. But when it comes to literally putting their money where their mouth is, they’re somehow nowhere to be found. Which raises an unsettling question… If they don’t have enough conviction in their recommendations to put their own cash behind it for the long haul, then why the heck should you?

Fortunately, that’s not a problem you’ll ever encounter in The Partnership Portfolio.

When we win with The Partnership Portfolio, you win! That’s the way we believe investing should work. And just to be clear… you, as a member, do NOT need $633,179 to invest alongside The Partnership Portfolio. Rather, The Partnership Portfolio is a complete do-it-yourself solution designed with the goal of turbocharging a portfolio’s returns. You can replicate The Partnership Portfolio in most brokerage accounts with ease. Simply put… The Partnership Portfolio is a simple but powerful investing solution that allows investors investing to instantly act on the absolute best opportunities your Motley Fool Canada analysts see in the market today.

And not only does this limited-time invitation give you access to full write ups on all 27 of their top founder-led stocks, but you’ll also be receiving our most up-to-date allocation guidance.

Just like everything else you’ve read about today, all this information is available the second you join as a member…

All 27 founder-led stocks (10 U.S. stocks and 17 TSX listings) that we believe have the potential to gain 500% or more over the next decade…

Up-to-the-minute suggested allocations…

And every move you need to make to match us play for play!

As such, The Partnership Portfolio is unlike anything we’ve ever offered before — so here’s a bit more about what you can expect inside.

To help you decide if you’re ready to access what I believe is the among the most unique and powerful solution Motley Fool Canada has ever offered… Let’s recap the exact details on what you’ll find inside The Partnership Portfolio and why it has the entire Motley Fool Canada team buzzing with excitement.

The first and most important thing: you’ll gain access to all 27 high-conviction U.S. and Canadian stocks featured in The Partnership Portfolio — positioning yourself for what we believe will be substantial long-term gains, along with securing the confidence that comes with being a member of one of the most forward-looking and dedicated investment solutions we’ve ever offered.

The Partnership Portfolio also comes stuffed with a slew of additional features and benefits, including:

In-depth research reports on each founder and company: Each research report gives you a full profile on the CEO, a complete view of the company’s strategy and potential risks, and a full analysis of each recommendation’s upside potential.

The X-Factor Formula: An exclusive research report detailing how your Motley Fool Canada analysts found each company. We created this special report to fill you in on nearly everything you need to know about founder-led stocks, including how to fit The Partnership Portfolio into your existing portfolio.

Ongoing updates: We don’t simply recommend a bunch of stocks and then leave you to wonder what’s happening. Each quarter, we’ll update you on everything you need to know about our holdings. And of course, if anything changes significantly with any of our portfolio companies at any time, we’ll make sure you have the information you need right away.

All told, you’ll receive a whopping $2,299 of value when you accept this invitation today…

Including $600 of value from our exclusive new “Berkshire Framework” report.

And $1199 in value from annual membership in The Partnership Portfolio.

Plus another $500 of value from two additional VIP reports I’ll describe in just a moment…

But you’ll pay nowhere near that!

And, as promised, you’ll ALSO receive a slew of additional bonus research reports, including…

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