quotations about investing
All you need for a lifetime of successful investing is a few big winners, and the pluses from those will overwhelm the minuses from the stocks that don't work out.
PETER LYNCH
attributed, The Motley Fool, September 20, 2012
The best stock to buy is the one you already own.
PETER LYNCH
attributed, The Motley Fool, September 20, 2012
Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs repainting.
BILLY ROSE
New York Post, October 26, 1957
The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. After a heady experience of that kind, normally sensible people drift into behavior akin to that of Cinderella at the ball. They know that overstaying the festivities -- that is, continuing to speculate in companies that have gigantic valuations relative to the cash they are likely to generate in the future -- will eventually bring on pumpkins and mice. But they nevertheless hate to miss a single minute of what is one helluva party. Therefore, the giddy participants all plan to leave just seconds before midnight. There's a problem, though: They are dancing in a room in which the clocks have no hands.
WARREN BUFFETT
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman's Letter, 2000
One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute.
WILLIAM FEATHER
Forbes, 1989
Three simple rules -- pay less, diversify more and be contrarian -- will serve almost everyone well.
JOHN KAY
Long & the Short of It
We read the words written by and about successful investors, hoping to find in them the key to their stock-picking abilities so that we can replicate them and become wealthy quickly. In our search, though, contradictions and anomalies whipsaw us. In one corner of the investment town square stands one advisor yelling to us to buy businesses with solid cash flows and liquid assets, because that is what worked for Buffett. In another corner, another investment expert cautions us that this approach worked only in the old world and that in the new world of technology, we have to bet on companies that have solid growth prospects. In yet another corner stands a silver-tongued salesperson with vivid charts, presenting you with evidence of his or her capacity to get you in and out of markets at exactly the right times. It is not surprising that while facing this cacophony of claims and counter-claims, we end up more confused than ever.
ASWATH DAMODARAN
Investment Philosophies: Successful Strategies and the Investors Who Made Them Work
Too often, though, investors forget to examine the assumptions behind the models. Beware of geeks bearing formulas.
WARREN BUFFETT
attributed, Family Wealth Management
Searching for companies is like looking for grubs under rocks: if you turn over 10 rocks you'll likely find one grub; if you turn over 20 rocks you'll find two.
PETER LYNCH
attributed, The Motley Fool, September 20, 2012
Most successful investors, such as Warren Buffett, John Neff, and Peter Lynch, are able to beat the market countless times, not because they are smarter, but because they have learned from mistakes they made along the way.
RUSMIN ANG & VICTOR CHNG
Value Investing in Growth Companies
An investor without investment objectives is like a traveler without a destination.
ANONYMOUS
What fools call "wasting time" is most often the best investment.
NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
The good news is, the stock market is closed and it can’t hurt us again until tomorrow.
JAY LENO
The Tonight Show, Aug. 8, 2011
Investing is important, but get debt-free first. That's what frees up your income so you can win.
DAVE RAMSEY
daily tip
The best investors, are those who recognize that the asymmetric bias in fear vs. euphoria is a tradable concept and can't fail for precisely this reason.
PETER MALLOUK
The 5 Mistakes Every Investor Makes and How to Avoid Them