Which reiterates a timeless Buffett-ism: "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

Value investing for suckers
I'm a great fan of Warren Buffett and like to think of myself as a value investor. But too often I've been guilty of buying those "trash stocks" -- cheap stockswith mediocre (or worse)businesses.

Although I've never owned them, over the years, I've come close to buying shares in Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Marriott International (NYSE: MAR), Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), and even First Solar (Nasdaq: FLSR) -- all of which appear relatively cheap, but which operate in intensely competitive industries, and/or carry plenty of debt.

Nineteen years have passed since that famous 1989 letter to Berkshire Hathaway investors. As I review my portfolio today, I see fewer and fewer "trash stocks."

Through a combination of expensive errors, experience, and a commitment to continued investing education, I've slowly come to realize that the best long-term investments are in companies in growing industries that possess long-term, sustainable competitive advantages.

A heady combination of value and growth investing
If you need stock ideas today, there are more than a few such companies among our recommendations at Motley Fool Stock Advisor. I've known Fool co-founders and Stock Advisor advisors David and Tom for more than a decade now, and both are intelligent, business-focused investors.

Since the newsletter's inception in April 2002, their recommendations have outperformed the market by more than 25 percentage points, and are in positive territory while the S&P 500 is in negative territory. If you'd like to learn more about their latest stock picks and five favorite ideas for new money, give Stock Advisora tryfree for the next 30 days.

I wish you happy, trash-free investing.