Novel Investor

Compounding investing wisdom...

  • Home
  • About
  • Library
  • Quotes
  • Tools

Happy Hour: Heads I Win…

August 22, 2014 by Jon

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
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Sign up for more weekly wisdom.

Want to compound your investing wisdom?

Find Out More

Learning

  • Library
  • Book Notes
  • Quotes

Return Tables

  • Asset Class Returns
  • Stock Sector Returns
  • International Stock Market Returns
  • Emerging Markets Returns
  • Historical Returns

Connect

Search

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

© 2023 Novel Investor · All Rights Reserved · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer