Quote for the Week
In 1915, while just a beginner on Wall Street, I suggested that the firm recommend a low-price stock, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. But my employer, a conservative fellow, pointed out that the company’s bonds weren’t covered by its assets. He said, ‘How can you touch such a speculative stock?’ And I returned to my desk a very chastised young man. Years later the public company changed its name to IBM.
He was wrong about the stock. But he was right in terms of an overall investment policy. Look at what could happen. A man could buy a stock like that at, say, $40 a share, and it goes to $100. Then people would say, ‘Don’t be a fool. Take the profit. Trees don’t grow to heaven, etc., etc.’ So he sells out, and then spends the rest of his life watching IBM go up and up, while looking vainly for another IBM. To make a fortune in one stock you almost have to be an insider. For mere traders, there are very, very few IBMs. That’s the vital point. — Benjamin Graham (source)
From the Archives
Last Call
- Behind The Curtains of Buffett’s Life with Alice Schroeder – Neckar
- Failure Points in Investing: Learning from the James Webb Telescope’s Journey – ValIdea
- The Top 5 – Verdad
- The (In)Accuracy of Market Forecasts – L. Swedroe
- Against Cassandras: The Performance Impact of Cassandras – Klement on Investing
- Studying the Limits of Human Perfection, Through Darts – NY Times
- Paul Graham on Ambition, Art, and Evaluating Talent (podcast) – Conversations w/ Tyler
- Charles Henry Turner’s Insights into Animal Behavior Were a Century Ahead of Their Time – Knowable
- How I Take Notes – Honest Broker
