tailieunhanh - The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book On Value part 15

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book On Value part 15. The purpose of this book is to supply, in a form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy. Comparatively little will be said here about the technique of analyzing securities; attention will be paid chiefly to investment principles and investors’ attitudes. We shall, however, provide a number of condensed comparisons of specific securities - chiefly in pairs appearing side by side in the New York Stock Exchange list in order to bring home in concrete fashion the important elements involved in specific choices of common stocks | 126 Commentary on Chapter 5 totally implausible and thousands of investors have profited from it over the years. But Lynch s rule can work only if you follow its corollary as well Finding the promising company is only the first step. The next step is doing the research. To his credit Lynch insists that no one should ever invest in a company no matter how great its products or how crowded its parking lot without studying its financial statements and estimating its business value. Unfortunately most stock buyers have ignored that part. Barbra Streisand the day-trading diva personified the way people abuse Lynch s teachings. In 1999 she burbled We go to Starbucks every day so I buy Starbucks stock But the Funny Girl forgot that no matter how much you love those tall skinny lattes you still have to analyze Starbucks s financial statements and make sure the stock isn t even more overpriced than the coffee. Countless stock buyers made the same mistake by loading up on shares of because they loved the website or buying e Trade stock because it was their own online broker. Experts gave the idea credence too. In an interview televised on CNN in late 1999 portfolio manager Kevin Landis of the Firsthand Funds was asked plaintively How do you do it Why can t I do it Kevin From 1995 through the end of 1999 the Firsthand Technology Value fund produced an astounding average annualized gain. Well you can do it Landis chirped. All you really need to do is focus on the things that you know and stay close to an industry and talk to people who work in it every day 2 The most painful perversion of Lynch s rule occurred in corporate retirement plans. If you re supposed to buy what you know then what could possibly be a better investment for your 401 k than your own company s stock After all you work there don t you know more about the company than an outsider ever could Sadly the employees 2 Kevin Landis interview on CNN In the Money November 5 1999 11 . eastern .