To be an investor you must be a believer in a better tomorrow. Benjamin Graham More Quotes by Benjamin Graham More Quotes From Benjamin Graham 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. Benjamin Graham analysis intelligent lying 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. Benjamin Graham beginners effort trying To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks. Benjamin Graham investing people looks 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. Benjamin Graham successful running commitment I am no longer an advocate of elaborate techniques of security analysis in order to find superior value opportunities. Benjamin Graham technique opportunity order It is absurd to think that the general public can ever make money out of market forecasts. Benjamin Graham investing making-money thinking If fees consume more than 1% of your assets annually, you should probably shop for another adviser. Benjamin Graham investing fees assets ... 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. Benjamin Graham wall loss years 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. Benjamin Graham use men mean 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. Benjamin Graham buying principles simple 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. Benjamin Graham investing selling men 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. Benjamin Graham adequate information mean 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. Benjamin Graham technique intelligent successful Whether we like it or not, government intervention in the face of surplus is here to stay. Benjamin Graham surplus government faces 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. Benjamin Graham doe giving ideas 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. Benjamin Graham want trying ideas Every corporate security may be best viewed, in the first instance, as an ownership interest in, or a claim against, a specific business enterprise. Benjamin Graham ownership may firsts Calculate a stock's price/earnings ratio yourself, using Graham's formula of current price divided by average earnings over the past three years. Benjamin Graham average past years there is a tendency in part of Wall Street people to pay excessive attention to the most recent figures and the present financial picture. Benjamin Graham wall attention people 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. Benjamin Graham investing shame responsibility
