Stock Market Wisdom

The stock market offers direct, quantitative confirmation of exactly how much of a loser you are.

From: Dumb Money, Adventures of a Day Trader by J. Anuff and G. Wolf
 
Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.

It is Buffett's emotional balance that, ultimately, gives him the objectivity that elevates and sustains his unusual approach to capital management above the average.

Buffett also protects himself from anxiety by employing very little debt in his company.

An investor will succeed by coupling good business judgement with an ability to insulate his thoughts and behaviour from the super-contagious emotions that swirl about the marketplace.

We find doing nothing the most difficult task of all.

The essence of Buffett's Circle of Competence lies in the capacity to do nothing when there is nothing to be done. If anything sits at the heart of illusory competence it is our compulsion to take control, to do something.

From: The Real Warren Buffett by James O'Loughlin
 
The Universe is evil and it hates you. You can't list all the funky things that it can do to you.
-- Jerf [Slashdot.org]


"The market, we would find, was philanthropically inclined that morning; in fact, clamoring to increase the supply of collegiate pocket money, of which no intelligent undergraduate ever had a sufficiency of since the dawn of historic time."
-- Reminisces of a Stock Market Operator

'Every day and in every way, I am becoming better and better' - Emile Coué.

Q. Is there ever a light at the end of the tunnel?
A. Yes, as hard as it may be to imagine now, the goal here is to be able to look back years from now at the events of today and say it was a blessing in disguise, maybe even the best thing that has ever happened to you.

Q. How can that possibly be?
A. Unlike human death as discussed above, think of the debtor as a Phoenix. From your financial ashes you will be reborn. When you rebuild a new financial base old debts will be gone. Your spending habits will be smarter. In a short time you can become richer and stronger than before. You may become a six million dollar man! In the long run you will see that workouts and bankruptcies can really give the debtor a new lease on life.
 
You’re trading future utility and you’re trying to figure out how to anticipate the anticipators.
90% of the people in this business eventually lose money.

You learn to ski by skiing. You learn to trade by trading.

If Buffett can’t understand a business he has no way to measure its quality or its future - so he can’t value it.

A stock doesn’t know who owns it. You may have all these feelings and emotions as the stock goes up or down, but the stock doesn’t give a damn.

MARKET ECOLOGY
Low Stakes
Tourists - 30%
Hobbyists - 40%
Subsistence Players - 10%

High Stakes
Action Players - 2%
Breakeven - 10%
Winners - 2%

The market is the boss.

The market tells you everything.

You can observe a lot by just watching.

To take risk requires a willingness to go to the edge of the abyss and to act in line with your objectives without any guarantee or certainty about the outcome.

The tape is telling you a story. You have to figure it out.

Miller looks for businesses with sustainable competitive advantages; strong shareholder-orientated management; and a market position that enables them to play offence, not defence.

Remember there are only a limited number of shares available at a given price. Once those shares change hands, the prevailing price of the stock will change.
 
1. put the odds in your favour, in the long run.
2. bet small enough to survive for the long run.
 
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