Max Koh Profile picture
Dec 9, 2021 19 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Investing = 90% psychology, 10% intellect

After being impacted by Mohnish Pabrai and Buffett, @GSpier wrote this book.

Beyond investing, it's a fine masterclass in human psychology!

Here's 10 psychology lessons you must internalize before investing your $$$ in the markets:
1. When given a choice, always choose INACTION!

Investing is one of the rare fields where doing more results in less optimal results.

Checking stock prices everyday makes you microscopic.

If you focus on price movements, you will have a hard time looking at the big picture.
2. Choose an environment that brings you peace

An environment filled with news and updates may not always be a good thing.

Because it overloads your brain with information that have a short shelf life.

Instead, choose surroundings that improve your logic and ability to think.
3. Investing with borrowed $$ is a sure way to mess with your head

Why?

Because debt creates stress and anxiety.

It increase the risk of you making stupid decisions during major drawdowns.

You end up clouding your judgment with fear!
4. Your willpower is NOT enough

Acknowledge your limitations as a human being.

Don't fight it.

• You cant control your emotions
• It takes a lot of effort and discipline

Instead, it's best to create "structures" in your environment that reduce exposure to emotions.
5. Guard against temptations of extreme wealth and lavishness

They make you greedy.

Even though you may not be that kind of person, they cause you to feel envious of your peers...

So you end up taking more risks than you need to in the markets.
6. Turn off the latest news in the markets!

They make you irrational and fearful.

But you know what's worse?

They are not even an accurate reflection of what's going on in reality!

They're narratives created to get more eyeballs. End of story.

So tune it out.
7. Look at your role models often

Having photos of people you admire and respect will:

• influence your thoughts
• impact your behaviour positively.

Because you subconsciously model their values and character.

It makes you ask the question "what would xxx do?"
Fun Fact #1:

I believe this is the statue of Charlie Munger that Mohnish Pabrai keeps in his office
Fun Fact #2:

Munger himself keeps a statue of Ben Franklin in his office as a positive role model.

Look at the left corner of the photo.
Fun Fact #3:

I don't keep statues.

But this has been my iphone wallpaper for the last 1 year.
8. Upgrade your portfolio, don't settle.

Always push yourself to raise your standards

Just because an existing investment idea is making you money, doesn't mean that it's the best.

Constantly seek to elevate the quality of businesses you own.
9. Stop looking at stock prices everyday

It initiates you to act, when you don't need to.

It uses up your willpower, which could be put to better use.

Worse of all, it tempts you to buy and sell based on emotions and not logic.
10. Consume information in the right order

Prioritize primary information first!

Do not let secondary information colour your lens.

You want to form YOUR OWN opinions, before you start reading others' analysis and letting it influence you.
"The Education of a Value Investor" ranks high up as one of my top investing books.

But it's not the only one.

Here are 2 more that I frequently revisit.

1. Richer Wiser Happier by @williamgreen72

2. Joys of Compounding by @Gautam__Baid

You should read them all!
Here's my summary of "Richer, Wiser, Happier" by William Green

And here's the summary of "Joys of Compounding" by Gautam Baid

Recap:

1. Choose inaction
2. Environment matters
3. Don't invest borrowed $$
4. Willpower ain't enough
5. Guard against temptations
6. Turn off the news
7. Look at your role models
8. Upgrade your portfolio
9. Stop looking at prices daily
10. Consume primary information first
If you like this, follow me here at @heymaxkoh

I share how I crossed 7 figures before age 30, and achieved my own version of financial freedom.

Stuff I tweet about:

• My investing strategy
• Books that inspire me
• How I built high income skills i.e. public speaking

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Max Koh

Max Koh Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @heyamaxkoh

Jan 20, 2023
This is value investor, Allan Mecham.

He dropped out of college at age 22 to start his fund, Arlington Value.

From 2008-2016, they did a CAGR of 30% over 8.5 years!

And in his fund letters, he shared his best frameworks for investing in companies.

Here's a breakdown of each:
1. Adopt a mindset for longevity

He focuses on variables that affect a business' durability.

Stuff like valuation doesn't matter if the business quality is misjudged.

Since a company's value is determined by its future cash flows...

Hence evaluating its future is key
2. Stay within your circle of competence

Allan is aware that his CoC is tiny!

Thus, he rarely buys companies that he:

• Hasn't researched
• Hasn't followed for at least a few years.

Because the best way to study a business is to observe its execution overtime.
Read 12 tweets
Jan 17, 2023
One of the great investors of our time: Li Lu

During his talks at CBS and Peking Uni, he’s shared many of his thoughts on:

- Researching a stock
- Thinking like an owner
- Behaviours of a good investor

Here’s a breakdown of 15 of his investing mental models:
1. Think Like a Business Owner

Your fortunes go up and down with the nature of the business.

You don’t think of yourself as a paper shuffler.

But instead, as a real owner.

And because you only own a small piece, you need a margin of safety before buying in.
2. You Are a Researcher More Than an Investor

Most of your time is spent reading.

You operate more like a field detective and journalist.

This helps you understand a business well so you can own it with conviction.
Read 21 tweets
Jan 11, 2023
How to read an Annual Report in 1 hour.

A step by step guide for busy people:

(also for investing newbies)
1. For me, reading a 10k is purely to understand one thing:

A company's business model.

That's it.

This includes:

- what products they sell
- how they make $$
- basic unit economics

Fine tune your antenna to look for that.
2. Limit your time.

I find that 45-60 mins is a typical duration before I start feeling sleepy.

With this in mind, it creates urgency for me to move fast before steam runs out.

I become more selective of what I read in the 10K.

Which helps me remember the best ideas I need.
Read 13 tweets
Jan 6, 2023
17 life-changing lessons from "Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Taleb that gave me a mindf**k.

I hope it does the same for you too:
1. Hard work and work ethic is BS

Those who merely work hard generally lose their focus and intellectual energy.

Work ethics draw people to focus on noise rather than the signal.
2. Lucky fools do not think they are lucky fools.

Be careful who you listen to or take advice from.
Read 20 tweets
Nov 2, 2022
Secrets on how to find 10-100 baggers

My top 8 tweets:
1. Turning $3.6k into $1M

Someone else shared this, but their account went private.

I don't take any credit for this.

But it's a good lesson.

This guy from Reddit bought 300 shares of $AMZN at $12.50 in 2001. It has now become a 280 bagger.

Read his thought process here:
2. Real life 100 baggers by @mrjivraj

I love this.

What makes it awesome is seeing retail investors like you and me buy shares of $AAPL and $MSFT in the early days.

Is there luck? Yes.

But a good reminder that the real $$ is made in the holding.

Read 13 tweets
Oct 17, 2022
90% of business acquisitions fail.

But there are exceptions:

Mark Leonard, Founder of Constellation Software $CSU, is one of them.

He's acquired over 500 companies in the last 2 decades...

Turning $25 Million into $39 Billion.

Here's his "Growth by Acquisition" playbook: Image
Okay I'm a jerk.

This is the real photo of Mark Leonard.

Now let's get to the serious stuff...

5 lessons from Mark's "Growth by Acquisition" Playbook:

1. Focus on niche players
2. Focus on sticky softwares
3. Buy founder led companies
4. Decentralization
5. Keep teams small Image
To put things in context:

Every $1 you invested in Constellation Software in 2006...

Would have turned into $100 in 2022.

Over the last 16 years, its stock has compounded at over 30% a year.

What's the secret? Image
Read 25 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(