This legend inherited a $20 million fund and grew it to $14 billion.
Delivering a 29.2% annual return between 1977 and 1990.
Here is how he did it:
1. Hold on to your winners tightly.
Great businesses defy mean reversion.
Cut lousy businesses out.
The quote was so good that Warren Buffett cited it in his shareholder letter.
“Selling your winners and holding your losers is like cutting the flowers and watering the weeds.”
2. Volatility is the price of admission.
“People who succeed in the stock market also accept periodic losses, setbacks, and unexpected occurrences. Calamitous drops do not scare them out of the game.”
3. On how many stocks you should own.
Keeping track of dozens of companies is tough.
Finding dozens of great companies?
Even tougher.
"Owning stocks is like having children. Don't get involved with more than you can handle."
4. On making mistakes.
Don't tie your identity to a business.
Or let your ego get in the way.
"There's no shame in losing money on a stock. Everybody does it. What is shameful is to hold on to a stock, or worse, to buy more of it when the fundamentals are deteriorating."
5. Stocks are not just prices, it is ownership.
Never associate price movements with changes in business fundamentals.
In the short run, they are often disjointed.
“This is one of the keys to successful investing: focus on the companies, not on the stocks.”
6. Stop reading news.
It is the media's business to get eyeballs, not just report facts.
Under their lens, everything is BREAKING.
"While catching up on the news is merely depressing to the citizen who has no stocks, it is a dangerous habit for the investor."
7. Never FOMO and chase without due diligence.
Rubbish stock tips/takes are bountiful.
Dydd.
"Never invest in any company before you've done the homework on the company's earnings, prospects, financial condition, competitive position, plans for expansion, and so forth."
8. Only your conviction can save you from periods of drawdown.
You can't borrow conviction from stock tips.
In fact, during drawdowns you'll discover who are the charlatans.
"The stock market demands conviction as surely as it victimizes the unconvinced."
9. Just because technology has made it simpler to invest, doesn't mean you lower your standards.
Stop swiping right at everything 😏
And also stop checking stock prices frequently.
"In stocks – as in romance – ease of divorce is not a sound basis for commitment."
10. On holding cash.
Don't lower your standards.
"If you can't find any companies that you think are attractive, put your money in the bank until you discover some."
1. Hold your winners 2. Embrace volatility 3. Don't over diversify 4. Acknowledge mistakes 5. Be a owner 6. Avoid news 7. No FOMO 8. Do your dd 9. Make technology your friend. 10. Don't lower your standards
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Buffett's letters since his partnership years are jammed with insights.
And he taught me more than any business school ever could.
This year is no different.
Here are my key insights:
1. Buffett and Munger's investing philosophy
Their goal is to look for businesses with both durable economic advantages and a first-class CEO.
2. Pick the right businesses and the stock price will take care of itself.
"...we own stocks based upon our expectations about their long-term business performance and not because we view them as vehicles for timely market moves."
Thinking of switching over from Evernote to Notion.
Folks who have compulsive note-taking syndrome, what do you think?
Please comment if there's a better alternative!
Maybe to shed more light:
-I'm currently using a tagging system in Evernote, no folders
-Being able to clip directly from Chrome & tag is important
-I mainly use Evernote for collecting notes and Google Docs for writing my thoughts
-I'm looking to combine both functions
Bonus point if you can link up your favorite productivity Youtubers who demo either Notion or other note taking software for others to up our game.