The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that among Warren Buffett's most famous pieces of investment advice is: "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1." Guest columnist Noah Solomon writes that it is impossible to never lose money. Even Berkshire Hathaway's oracle has taken his lumps. This begs the question of what Mr. Buffett meant by his statement. To best interpret his words, remember that actions speak the loudest. Analyzing his historical returns over the 30 years ending December, 2022, show that, unsurprisingly, Berkshire trounced the S&P 500 index, delivering a 13.1-per-cent compound annual rate of return versus 9.6 per cent for the benchmark. Clearly, his massive outperformance does not come from knocking the lights out in good times. In stark contrast, in years when the S&P 500 fell, Mr. Buffett gained 4.2 per cent on average. This does not mean he never loses money. In 2008, Berkshire declined 31.78 per cent versus 36 per cent for the S&P 500. However, in down markets, he has either tended to lose far less than the index or not suffer any losses. The latter occurred during 2000-02, when he gained 29.7 per cent versus a decline of 37.6 per cent for the index.