Welcome to the end of the week! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this weeks roundup in another edition of Happy Hour.
…Tails I Don’t Lose Much
I ran across a couple of things this week that are a great follow-up to yesterday’s post. First, Mohnish Pabrai gave a Talks at Google presentation back in July that’s worth watching (video is below). He’s a value investor and student of Buffett who also likes to stack the odds in his favor.
Here’s a few highlights:
- He covers several stories of entrepreneurs (Branson, Gates, Patels) who prospered with a “Heads I win, tails I don’t lose much” mentality.
- Looks for asymmetrical bets – exponential upside (game changers) with very little downside.
- The market often confuses risk with uncertainty – presents opportunities.
- Investing is an uncertain exercise that you must accept.
- He highlights five skill sets investors should have – Patience is #1.
- He defines the best business – compounding machine.
- The “best business” is rare. When you can’t find it, look for the mispriced business.
There’s a lot of great information, some of the best comes out of the Q&A session.
Second, Farnam Street covers another video interview with Buffett. He specifically highlights the discussion between intelligence, discipline, and Buffett’s ability to do nothing. Beyond that, I haven’t seen the video in full (only pieces) but I’m sure there’s further lessons in there too.
Last Call
- The Stock Market: A Look at the Last 200 Years – Base Hit Investing
- Looking Beyond Interest Rate Risk in Bonds – A Wealth of Common Sense
- The Victors Write the History Books, Even in Finance – Aleph Blog
- Go Ahead, Spice Up Your Investing Life – NY Times
- An Overlooked Vehicle for Retirement Savings – Morningstar