Top quotes by Benjamin Graham

Wall Street people learn nothing and forget everything. Votes: 17

Confronted with a challenge to distill the secret of sound investment into three words, we venture the motto, Margin of Safety. Votes: 13

Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed. Votes: 12

The investor with a portfolio of sound stocks should expect their prices to fluctuate and should neither be concerned by sizable declines nor become excited by sizable advances. He should always remember that market quotations are there for his convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored. Votes: 12

While enthusiasm may be necessary for great accomplishments elsewhere, on Wall Street it almost invariably leads to disaster Votes: 11

The people of the United States will not tolerate another deep depression that arises not from any lack of natural resources, productive capacity or man and brain power, but solely from imperfections in the functioning of the system of finance capitalism. Votes: 8

The money cost of the reservoir plan literally fades into insignificance when it is compared with the financial burden which the great depression imposed on the nation. Votes: 8

In the financial markets, hindsight is forever 20/20, but foresight is legally blind. And thus, for most investors, market timing is a practical and emotional impossibility. Votes: 8

Cartels have spread and will spread as long as the world lacks an effective mechanism by which balanced expansion may be achieved without a resulting disruption of prices. Votes: 7

The utility, or intrinsic value of gold as a commodity is now considerably less than in the past; its monetary status has become extraordinarily ambiguous; and its future is highly uncertain. Votes: 7

The market is a pendulum that forever swings between unsustainable optimism (which makes stocks too expensive) and unjustified pessimism (which makes them too cheap). The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists. Votes: 7

In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run it is a weighing machine. Votes: 6

Both a priori reasoning and experience teach us that as as these funds grow larger the geometrical rate of growth by compound interest ultimately defeats itself. Votes: 5

The intelligent investor is likely to need considerable will power to keep from following the crowd. Votes: 5

The underlying principles of sound investment should not alter from decade to decade, but the application of these principles must be adapted to significant changes in the financial mechanisms and climate. Votes: 5

Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic. Votes: 5

The investor should be aware that even though safety of its principal and interest may be unquestioned, a long term bond could vary widely in market price in response to changes in interest rates. Votes: 5

By developing your discipline and courage, you can refuse to let other people's mood swings govern your financial destiny. In the end, how your investments behave is much less important than how you behave. Votes: 5

The history of the past fifty years, and longer, indicates that a diversified holding of representative common stocks will prove more profitable over a stretch of years than a bond portfolio, with one important provisio that the shares must be purchased at reasonable market levels, that is, levels that are reasonable in the light of fairly well-defined standards derived from past experience. Votes: 5

Unusually rapid growth cannot keep up forever; when a company has already registered a brilliant expansion, its very increase in size makes a repetition of its achievement more difficult. Votes: 5

Observation over many years has taught us that the chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of good business conditions. The purchasers view the good current earnings as equivalent to 'earning power' and assume that prosperity is equivalent to safety. Votes: 4

To be an investor you must be a believer in a better tomorrow. Votes: 3

Most businesses change in character and quality over the years, sometimes for the better, perhaps more often for the worse. The investor need not watch his companies' performance like a hawk; but he should give it a good, hard look from time to time. Votes: 3

The market is always making mountains out of molehills and exaggerating ordinary vicissitudes into major setbacks. Votes: 2

The essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns. Votes: 2

The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator. This means ... that he should be able to justify every purchase he makes and each price he pays by impersonal, objective reasoning that satisfies him that he is getting more than his money's worth for his purchase. Votes: 2

Successful investment may become substantially a matter of techniques and criteria that are learnable, rather than the product of unique and incommunicable mental powers. Votes: 2

No matter how careful you are, the one risk no investor can ever eliminate is the risk of being wrong. Only by insisting on what Graham called the "margin of safety" - never overpaying, no matter how exciting an investment seems to be - can you minimize your odds of error. Votes: 2

Even defensive portfolios should be changed from time to time, especially if the securities purchased have an apparently excessive advance and can be replaced by issues much more reasonable priced. Votes: 2

Avoid second-quality issues in making up a portfolio unless they are demonstrable bargains. Votes: 2

As in roulette, same is true of the stock trader, who will find that the expense of trading weights the dice heavily against him. Votes: 0

A stock is not just a ticker symbol or an electronic blip; it is an ownership interest in an actual business, with an underlying value that does not depend on its share price. Votes: 0

Nothing in finance is more fatuous and harmful, in our opinion, than the firmly established attitude of common stock investors regarding questions of corporate management. That attitude is summed up in the phrase: "If you don't like the management, sell your stock." [...] The public owners seem to have abdicated all claim to control over the paid superintendents of their property Votes: 0

Even the most conservative must realize that the recent transformation of surplus from an individual to a national disaster implies a scathing indictment of our capitalist system as it has now developed. Votes: 0

The idea of storage as a solution of economic problems at least has the support of common sense.It is diametrically opposed to the topsy-turvy Alice-in-Wonderland reasoning that has marked so much of our depression thinking and policy. Votes: 0

It's nonsensical to derive a price/earnings ratio by dividing the known current price by unknown future earnings. Votes: 0

In the short-run, the market is a voting machine - reflecting a voter-registration test that requires only money, not intelligence or emotional stability - but in the long- run, the market is a weighing machine. Votes: 0

Successful investing professionals are disciplined and consistent and they think a great deal about what they do and how they do it. Votes: 0

High valuations entail high risks. Votes: 0

It always seemed, and still seems, ridiculously simple to say that if one can acquire a diversified group of common stocks at a price less than the applicable net current assets alone - after deducting all prior claims, and counting as zero the fixed and other assets - the results should be quite satisfactory. Votes: 0

The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists. Votes: 0

Have the courage of your knowledge and experience. If you have formed a conclusion from the facts and if you know your judgment is sound, act on it – even though others may hesitate or differ. Votes: 0

Price fluctuations have only one significant meaning for the true investor. They provide him with an opportunity to buy wisely when prices fall sharply and to sell wisely when they advance a great deal. Votes: 0

An intelligent investor gets satisfaction from the thought that his operations are exactly opposite to those of the crowd. Votes: 0

Speculators often prosper through ignorance; it is a cliché that in a roaring bull market knowledge is superfluous and experience is a handicap. But the typical experience of the speculator is one of temporary profit and ultimate loss Votes: 0

Before you invest, you must ensure that you have realistically assessed your probability of being right and how you will react to the consequences of being wrong. Votes: 0

The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brain and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of character Votes: 0

We define a bargain issue as one which, on the basis of facts established by analysis, appears to be worth considerably more that it is selling for. Votes: 0

Investing isn't about beating others at their game. It's about controlling yourself at your own game. Votes: 0

All the real money in investment will have to be made as most of it has been in the past not out of buying and selling but out of owning and holding securities, receiving interests and dividends therein, and benefiting from their long-term increases in value. Hence stockholder's major energies and wisdom as investors should be directed toward assuring themselves of the best operating results from their corporations. This in turn means assuring themselves of fully honest and competent managements. Votes: 0

It requires strength of character in order to think and to act in opposite fashion from the crowd and also patience to wait for opportunities that may be spaced years apart. Votes: 0

In the world of securities, courage becomes the supreme virtue after adequate knowledge and a tested judgment are at hand. Votes: 0

Both individual skill (art) and chance are important factors in determining success or failure. Votes: 0

Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it. Votes: 0

By refusing to pay too much for an investment, you minimize the chances that your wealth will ever disappear or suddenly be destroyed. Votes: 0

You must never delude yourself into thinking that you're investing when you're speculating. Votes: 0

The margin of safety is always dependent on the price paid. It will be large at one price, small at some higher price, nonexistent at some still higher price. Votes: 0

Buy when most people, including experts, are pessimistic, and sell when they are actively optimistic, Votes: 0

Stock speculation is largely a matter of A trying to decide what B, C and D are likely to think-with B, C and D trying to do the same. Votes: 0

The intelligent investor gets interested in big growth stocks not when they are at their most popular - but when something goes wrong. Votes: 0

The thing that I have been emphasizing in my own work for the last few years has been the group approach. To try to buy groups of stocks that meet some simple criterion for being undervalued-regardless of the industry and with very little attention to the individual company. Votes: 0

The purchase of a bargain issue presupposes that the market's current appraisal is wrong, or at least that the buyer's idea of value is more likely to be right than the market's. In this process the investor sets his judgement against that of the market. To some this may seem arrogant or foolhardy. Votes: 0

Nearly everyone interested in common stocks wants to be told by someone else what he thinks the market is going to do. The demand being there, it must be supplied. Votes: 0

we have complaints that institutional dominance of the stock market has put 'the small investor at a disadvantage because he can't compete with the trust companies' huge resources, etc. The facts are quite the opposite. It may be that the institutions are better equipped than the individual to speculate in the market.But I am convinced that an individual investor with sound principles, and soundly advised, can do distinctly better over the long pull than large institutions. Votes: 0

If you are shopping for common stocks, choose them the way you would buy groceries, not the way you would buy perfume. Votes: 0

A great company is not a great investment if you pay too much for the stock. Votes: 0

you may take it as an axiom that you cannot profit in Wall Street by continuously doing the obvious or the popular thing Votes: 0

Knowledge is only one ingredient on arriving at a stock's proper price. The other ingredient, fully as important as information, is sound judgment. Votes: 0

An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Votes: 0

The true investor... will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operation results of his companies. Votes: 0

The chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of favorable business conditions. Votes: 0

Evidently stockholders have forgotten more than to look at balance sheets. They have forgotten also that they are owners of a business and not merely owners of a quotation on the stock ticker. It is time, and high time, that the millions of American shareholders turned their eyes from the daily market reports long enough to give some attention to the enterprises themselves of which they are the proprietors, and which exist for their benefit and at their pleasure. Votes: 0

I quickly convinced myself that the true key to material happiness lay in a modest standard of living which could be achieved with little difficulty under almost all economic conditions. Votes: 0

The value of any investment is, and always must be, a function of the price you pay for it. Votes: 0

Individuals who cannot master their emotions are ill-suited to profit from the investment process. Votes: 0

Experience teaches that the time to buy stocks is when their price is unduly depressed by temporary adversity. In other words, they should be bought on a bargain basis or not at all. Votes: 0

The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy. Votes: 0

Stocks can be dynamite. Votes: 0

I am no longer an advocate of elaborate techniques of security analysis in order to find superior value opportunities. Votes: 0

To have a true investment, there must be a true margin of safety. And a true margin of safety is one that can be demonstrated by figures, by persuasive reasoning, and by reference to a body of actual experience. Votes: 0

At heart, "uncertainty" and "investing" are synonyms. Votes: 0

To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks. Votes: 0

Never buy a stock immediately after a substantial rise or sell one immediately after a substantial drop. Votes: 0

We are convinced that the intelligent investor can derive satisfactory results from pricing of either type (market timing or fundamental analysis via price). We are equally sure that if he places his emphasis on timing, in the sense of forecasting, he will end up as a speculator and with a speculator's financial results." And "The speculator's primary interest lies in anticipating and profiting from market fluctuations. The investor's primary interest lies in acquiring and holding suitable securities at suitable prices. Votes: 0

The intelligent investor should recognize that market panics can create great prices for good companies and good prices for great companies. Votes: 0

The function of the margin of safety is, in essence, that of rendering unnecessary an accurate estimate of the future. Votes: 0

Thousands of people have tried, and the evidence is clear: The more you trade, the less you keep. Votes: 0

Always buy your straw hats in the Winter Votes: 0

Never buy a stock because it has gone up or sell one because it has gone down. Votes: 0

An investor calculates what a stock is worth, based on the value of its businesses. Votes: 0

Although there are good and bad companies, there is no such thing as a good stock; there are only good stock prices, which come and go. Votes: 0

It is our argument that a sufficiently low price can turn a security of mediocre quality into a sound investment opportunity - provided that the buyer is informed and experienced and he practices adequate diversification. For, if the price is low enough to create a substantial margin of safety, the security thereby meets our criterion of investment. Votes: 0

The intelligent investor shouldn't ignore Mr. Market entirely. Instead, you should do business with him- but only to the extent that it serves your interests. Votes: 0

Only in the exceptional case, where the integrity and competence of the advisers have been thoroughly demonstrated, should the investor act upon the advice of others without understanding and approving the decision made. Votes: 0

Obvious prospects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profits for investors. Votes: 0

It is absurd to think that the general public can ever make money out of market forecasts. Votes: 0

Those with the enterprise lack the money and those with the money lack the enterprise to buy stocks when they are cheap. Votes: 0

In most cases the favorable price performance will be accompanied by a well-defined improvement in the average earnings, in the dividend, and in the balance-sheet position. Thus in the long run the market test and the ordinary business test of a successful equity commitment tend to be largely identical. Votes: 0

Diversification is an established tenet of conservative investment. Votes: 0

The investor's chief problem - and even his worst enemy - is likely to be himself. Votes: 0

Always remember that market quotations are there for convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored. Votes: 0

The investor's primary interest lies in acquiring and holding suitable securities at suitable prices. Votes: 0

Mathematics is ordinarily considered as producing precise and dependable results; but in the stock market the more elaborate and abstruse the mathematics the more uncertain and speculative are the conclusions we draw there from. Whenever calculus is brought in, or higher algebra, you could take it as a warning that the operator was trying to substitute theory for experience, and usually also to give to speculation the deceptive guise of investment. Votes: 0

there is a tendency in part of Wall Street people to pay excessive attention to the most recent figures and the present financial picture. Votes: 0

The most realistic distinction between the investor and the speculator is found in their attitude toward stock-market movements. The speculator's primary interest lies in anticipating and profiting from market fluctuations. The investor's primary interest lies in acquiring and holding suitable securities at suitable prices. Market movements are important to him in a practical sense, because they alternately create low price levels at which he would be wise to buy and high price levels at which he certainly should refrain from buying and probably would be wise to sell. Votes: 0

We have not known a single person who has consistently or lastingly make money by thus "following the market". We do not hesitate to declare this approach is as fallacious as it is popular. Votes: 0

Real investment risk is measured not by the percent that a stock may decline in price in relation to the general market in a given period, but by the danger of a loss of quality and earnings power through economic changes or deterioration in management. Votes: 0

The investor who permits himself to be stampeded or unduly worried by unjustified market declines in his holdings is perversely transforming his basic advantage into a basic disadvantage. Votes: 0

A defensive investor can always prosper by looking patiently and calmly through the wreckage of a bear market. Votes: 0

The only thing you should do with pro forma earnings is ignore them. Votes: 0

The ideal form of common stock analysis leads to a valuation of the issue which can be compared with the current price to determine whether or not the security is an attractive purchase. Votes: 0

If fees consume more than 1% of your assets annually, you should probably shop for another adviser. Votes: 0

Before you place your financial future in the hands of an adviser, it's imperative that you find someone who not only makes you comfortable but whose honesty is beyond reproach. Votes: 0

The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you're beating the market but by whether you've put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go. Votes: 0

A speculator gambles that a stock will go up in price because somebody else will pay even more for it. Votes: 0

Speculative stock movements are carried too far in both directions, frequently in the general market and at all times in at least some of the individual issues. Votes: 0

To enjoy a reasonable chance for continued better than average results, the investor must follow policies which are (1) inherently sound and promising, and (2) not popular on Wall Street. Votes: 0

The distinction between investment and speculation in common stocks has always been a useful one and its disappearance is cause for concern. Votes: 0

For 99 issues out of 100 we could say that at some price they are cheap enough to buy and at some price they would be so dear that they would be sold. Votes: 0

The determining trait of the enterprising (or active, or aggressive) investor is his willingness to devote time and care to the selection of securities that are both sound and more attractive than the average. Votes: 0

The defensive (or passive) investor will place chief emphasis on the avoidance of serious mistakes or losses. His second aim will be freedom from effort, annoyance, and the need for making frequent decisions. Votes: 0

No statement is more true and better applicable to Wall Street than the famous warning of Santayana: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Votes: 0

The value of the security analyst to the investor depends largely on the investor's own attitude. If the investor asks the analyst the right questions, he is likely to get the right or at least valuable answers. Votes: 0

The sillier the market's behavior, the greater the opportunity for the business like investor. Votes: 0

The best values today are often found in the stocks that were once hot and have since gone cold. Votes: 0

THERE is widespread agreement among economists that abuse of credit constitutes one of the chief unwholesome elements in business booms and is mainly responsible for the ensuing crash and depression. Votes: 0

It must be fundamentally wrong to reduce production of food and fiber while one-third of our population is still ill fed and ill clothed. Votes: 0

There is something paradoxical in the fact that by establishing an export market we subject our entire domestic production to the vagaries of that market. Votes: 0

The volume of credit depends upon three factors: the desire to borrow, the ability to lend and the desire to lend. Votes: 0

Why should the cotton growers suffer if there is shortage of wheat? Votes: 0

The Reservoir system will function not only as an equalizer of business conditions, but also as a national store to meet further emergencies, such as war and drought, and-most important of all-as the concrete means of developing a steadily higher living standard for all. Votes: 0

It is a fact worth pondering that four centuries ago the evil of "an abundance or surplus" arose from its being kept off the market, while today the evil of surplus lies in its being thrown upon the market. Votes: 0

It is worth pointing out that assuredly not more than one person out of a hundred who stayed in the market after after 1925 emerged from it with a net profit and that the speculative losses taken were appalling. Votes: 0

The reader can test his own psychology by asking himself whether he would consider, in retrospect, the selling at 156 in 1925 and buying back at 109 in 1931 was a satisfactory operation. Some may think that an intelligent investor should have been able to sell out much closer to the high of 381 and to buy back nearer the low of 41. If that is your own view you are probably a speculator at heart and will have trouble keeping to true investment precepts while the market rushes up and down. Votes: 0

The investor has a right to expect good results to flow from a consistent and courageous application of the principle of buying after the market has declined substantially and selling after it has had a spectacular rise. But he cannot expect to reduce this principle to a simple and foolproof formula, with profits guaranteed and no anxious periods. Votes: 0

The chief obstacle to success lies in the stubborn fact that if the favorable prospects of a concern are clearly apparent they are almost always reflected already in the current price of the stock. Buying such an issue is like betting on a topheavy favorite in a horse race. The chances may be on your side, but the real odds are against you. Votes: 0

Many progressive economists insist that gold is now in essentially the same position as silver and that the arguments the simon-pure gold advocates use against the white metal can be directed with equal effect against their own fetish. Votes: 0

The memory of the financial community is proverbially and distressingly short. Votes: 0

The Reservoir plan is an engineering mechanism applied to the field of economics, and in its essence it has nothing to do with democracy or any other political philosophy. Votes: 0

It is a misfortune of the times that all of us must needs be amateur economists-including, and perhaps especially, the professionals. Votes: 0

The investor has the benefit of the stock market's daily and changing appraisal of his holdings, for whatever that appraisal may be worth , and, second, that the investor is able to increase or decrease his investment at the market's daily figure if he chooses . Thus the existence of a quoted market gives the investor certain options which he does not have if his security is unquoted. But it does not impose the current quotation on an investor who prefers to take his idea of value from some other source. Votes: 0

A price decline is of no real importance to the bona fide investor unless it is either very substantial say, more than a third from cost or unless it reflects a known deterioration of consequence in the company's position. In a well-defined bear market many sound common stocks sell temporarily at extraordinary low prices. It is possible that the investor may then have a paper loss of fully 50 per cent on some of his holdings, without any convincing indication that the underlying values have been permanently affected. Votes: 0

Wall Street has a few prudent principles; the trouble is that they are always forgotten when they are most needed. Votes: 0

The investor is neither smart not richer when he buys in an advancing market and the market continues to rise. That is true even when he cashes in a goodly profit, unless either (a) he is definitely through with buying stocks an unlikely story or (b) he is determined to reinvest only at considerably lower levels. In a continuous program no market profit is fully realized until the later reinvestment has actually taken place, and the true measure of the trading profit is the difference between the previous selling level and the new buying level. Votes: 0

If General Motors is worth $60 a share to an investor it must be because the full common-stock ownership of this gigantic enterprise as a whole is worth 43 million (shares) times $60, or no less than $2,600 million. Votes: 0

Do not let anyone else run your business Votes: 0

Though business conditions may change, corporations and securities may change, and financial institutions and regulations may change, human nature remains the same. Thus the important and difficult part of sound investment, which hinges upon the investor's own temperament and attitude, is not much affected by the passing years. Votes: 0

Intelligent investment is more a matter of mental approach than it is of technique. A sound mental approach toward stock fluctuations is the touchstone of all successful investment under present-day conditions. Votes: 0

In nine companies out of ten the factor of fluctuation has been a more dominant and important consideration in the matter of investment than has the factor of long-term growth or decline Votes: 0

In other words, the market is not a weighing machine, on which the value of each issue is recorded by an exact and impersonal mechanism, in accordance with its specific qualities. Rather should we say that the market is a voting machine, whereon countless individuals register choices which are the product partly of reason and partly of emotion. Votes: 0

The existence of such a war chest might go far to strengthen our prestige and frighten off any would be assailant. Votes: 0

It is no difficult trick to bring a great deal of energy, study, and native ability into Wall Street and to end up with losses instead of profits. These virtues, if channeled in the wrong directions, become indistinguishable from handicaps. Votes: 0

Price statistics show clearly that instability in raw-material prices is a prime cause of instability of other prices. Votes: 0

To see how much a company is truly earning on the capital it deploys in its businesses, look beyond EPS to Return on Invested Capital (ROIC). Votes: 0

The correct attitude of the security analyst toward the stock market might well be that of a man toward his wife. He shouldn't pay too much attention to what the lady says, but he can't afford to ignore it entirely. That is pretty much the position that most of us find ourselves vis-à-vis the stock market. Votes: 0

The art of investment has one characteristic that is not generally appreciated. A creditable, if unspectacular, result can be achieved by the lay investor with a minimum of effort and capability; but to improve this easily attainable standard requires much application and more than a trace of wisdom. If you merely try to bring just a little extra knowledge and cleverness to bear upon your investment program, instead of realizing a little better than normal results, you may well find that you have done worse. Votes: 0

I am more and more impressed with the possibilities of history's repeating itself on many different counts. You don't get very far in Wall Street with the simple, convenient conclusion that a given level of prices is not too high. Votes: 0

Abnormally good or abnormally bad conditions do not last forever. Votes: 0

Investing is most intelligent when it is most businesslike. Votes: 0

If I have noticed anything over these 60 years on Wall Street, it is that people do not succeed in forecasting what`s going to happen to the stock market. Votes: 0

There is a close logical connection between the concept of a safety margin and the principle of diversification. Votes: 0

In the old legend the wise men finally boiled down the history of mortal affairs into a single phrase: 'This too will pass.' Votes: 0

Instead of passing blithely over into that Promised Land, flowing almost literally with milk and honey, it may be our destiny to wander a full 40 years or more in the wilderness of doubt and divided sentiments. Votes: 0

Mr. Market's job is to provide you with prices; your job is to decide whether it is to your advantage to act on them. You no not have to trade with hime just because he constantly begs you to. Votes: 0

To establish the right price for a stock, the market must have adequate information, but it by no means follows that is the market has this information it will thereupon establish the right price. Votes: 0

Whether we like it or not, government intervention in the face of surplus is here to stay. Votes: 0

If we assume that there are normal or standard income results to be obtained from investing money in securities, then the role of the adviser can be more readily established. He will use his superior training and experience to protect his clients against mistakes and to make sure that they obtain the results to which their money is entitled. Votes: 0

The most striking thing about Graham's discussion of how to allocate your assets between stocks and bonds is that he never mentions the word "age". Votes: 0

People who invest make money for themselves; people who speculate make money for their brokers. And that, in turn, is why Wall Street perennially downplays the durable virtues of investing and hypes the gaudy appeal of speculation. Votes: 0

Whenever the investor sold out in an upswing as soon as the top level of the previous well-recognized bull market was reached, he had a chance in the next bear market to buy back at one third (or better) below his selling price. Votes: 0

Individual security bargains may be located by the process of security analysis practically at any time. They can be bought with good overall results at all periods except when the general market itself is clearly in a selling range for investors. They show up to best advantage during the years in which the market remains in a relatively narrow and neutral area. Votes: 0

Good managements produce a good average market price, and bad managements produce bad market prices. Votes: 0

Never mingle your speculative and investment operations in the same account nor in any part of your thinking. Votes: 0

Mr. Market does not always price stocks the way an appraiser or a private buyer would value a business. Instead, when stocks are going up, he happily pays more than their objective value; and, when they are going down, he is desperate to dump them for less than their true worth. Votes: 0

Nothing important on Wall Street can be counted on to occur exactly in the same way as it happened before. Votes: 0

We have been trying to point out that this concept of an indefinitely favorable future is dangerous, even if it is true; because even if it is true you can easily overvalue the security, since you make it worth anything you want it to be worth. Beyond this, it is particularly dangerous too, because sometimes your ideas of the future turn out to be wrong. Then you have paid an awful lot for a future that isn't there. Your position then is pretty bad. Votes: 0

Traditionally the investor has been the man with patience and the courage of his convictions who would buy when the harried or disheartened speculator was selling. Votes: 0

Even with a margin of safety in the investor's favor, an individual security may work out badly. For the margin guarantees only that he has a better chance for profit than for loss - not that loss is impossible. But as the number of such commitments is increased the more certain does it become that the aggregate of the profits will exceed the aggregate of the losses. Votes: 0

In security analysis the prime stress is laid upon protection against untoward events. We obtain this protection by insisting upon margins of safety, or values well in excess of the price paid. Votes: 0

The stock market resembles a huge laundry in which institutions take in large blocks of each others washing ... without rhyme or reason. Votes: 0

The qualitative factors upon which most stress is laid are the nature of the business and the character of the management. These elements are exceedingly important, but they are also exceedingly difficult to deal with intelligently. Votes: 0

Every corporate security may be best viewed, in the first instance, as an ownership interest in, or a claim against, a specific business enterprise. Votes: 0

Undervaluations caused by neglect or prejudice may persist for an inconveniently long time, and the same applies to inflated prices caused by over-enthusiasm or artificial stimulants. Votes: 0

When somebody asserts that a stock has an earning power of so much, I am sure that the person who hears him doesn't know what he means, and there is a good chance that the man who uses it doesn't know what it means. Votes: 0

Since we have emphasized that analysis will lead to a positive conclusion only in the exceptional case, it follows that many securities must be examined before one is found that has real possibilities for the analyst. By what practical means does he proceed to make his discoveries? Mainly by hard and systematic work. Votes: 0

Losing some money is an inevitable part of investing, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. But to be an intelligent investor, you must take responsibility for ensuring that you never lose most or all of your money. Votes: 0

The world has not learned the technique of balanced expansion without the resultant commercial and financial congestion. Votes: 0

The beauty of periodic rebalancing is that it forces you to base your investing decisions on a simple, objective standard. Votes: 0

The modern world is not geared properly to the storage of goods. Votes: 0

The story of Joseph in Egypt and of the seven fat and the seven lean years has passed into the homely wisdom of the ages; but our economic thinking seems to have lost contact with so simple and basic approach to prudent management of a nations welfare. Votes: 0

Calculate a stock's price/earnings ratio yourself, using Graham's formula of current price divided by average earnings over the past three years. Votes: 0

In an ideal world, the intelligent investor would hold stocks only when they are cheap and sell them when they become overpriced, then duck into the bunker of bonds and cash until stocks again become cheap enough to buy. Votes: 0

There is no reason to feel any shame in hiring someone to pick stocks or mutual funds for you. But there's one responsibility that you must never delegate. You, and no one but you, must investigate whether an adviser is trustworthy and charges reasonable fees. Votes: 0

We urge the beginner in security buying not to waste his efforts and his money in trying to beat the market. Let him study security values and initially test out his judgment on price versus value with the smallest possible sums. Votes: 0

It should be remembered that a decline of 50% fully offsets a preceding advance of 100%. Votes: 0

Confusing speculation with investment is always a mistake. Votes: 0

... the loss of public confidence in the financial community growing out of its own conduct in recent years. I insist that more damage has been done to stock values and to the future of equities from inside Wall Street than from outside Wall Street. Votes: 0