Darc Knight
Investor not Trader
- Joined
- 28 February 2015
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That is what forums like this should be all about, sharing the knowledge.
It only works with a large contributor base, so get it there and pass on the tid bits.
Yes liquidity. we can get our piddly amounts into and out of our positions quickly.It seems the big boys have their advantages in gaining information due to size, us little guys must have some advantages due to our size or lack of it?
Without disrespect, but why would someone contribute/provide information that they have earnt, to share on any forum if it gives them an edge in their investment opportunity.
Ie, I sat in a courtroom and hear the courts finding, that might mean I could short or go long on a particular company, why would I broadcast the information until I could action the information, so this would be ramping.
Not talking about sharing your inside information Satan, but rather sharing your legal techniques of getting some.
I use the term inside information loosely here, of course.
P.S. and since creating this thread I've obtained my first follower. Hope its not the Feds!
Not talking about sharing your inside information Satan, but rather sharing your legal techniques of getting some.
I use the term inside information loosely here, of course.
P.S. and since creating this thread I've obtained my first follower. Hope its not the Feds!
Not talking about sharing your inside information Satan, but rather sharing your legal techniques of getting some.
I use the term inside information loosely here, of course.
P.S. and since creating this thread I've obtained my first follower. Hope its not the Feds!
Without disrespect, but why would someone contribute/provide information that they have earnt, to share on any forum if it gives them an edge in their investment opportunity.
The same could apply to chart techniques no ?
I've got a system and it works for me but if everyone knew about it then maybe it wouldn't work anymore ?
So why post anything here ?
No, I'm not talking about the kind you go to Jail for (or Joe will for hosting this thread). I'm talking about the kind of information that is publicly available but not yet well publicized
eg. sitting in on a Court case which is public and getting a feel for the outcome. Or, wearing out a bit of shoe leather at major land development sites finding out who might be doing what. etc etc.
It seems the big boys have their advantages in gaining information due to size, us little guys must have some advantages due to our size or lack of it?
@Darc Knight
I hate long winded post - I get exhausted reading them let alone writing them..
I'll chunk the post to encourage you to keep reading (it's a trick I use when communicating with others)
The market is not a level playing field
The stock market is not a level playing field, but most individuals invest as if it is. They assume they have the same information as everyone else, so they focus on the facts that are readily available to them and ignore how a stock is actually moving.
Someone out there always knows more than you do
We don’t consider that maybe someone out there knows a lot more than they do and perhaps that might account for why a stock is moving the way it is. We have all seen a situation in which a stock suddenly starts making big moves up or down, and then a short time later significant news is released that explains why that move took place.
Someone out there always knows more than you do, and you shouldn’t assume otherwise.
Foolish
It is just plain foolish to think that it is an even playing field when it comes to receiving valuable information. There is absolutely no way small individual traders like us has superior knowledge about a company. But the good news is that small Investors don’t need an informational edge. They make up for it by moving fast and being reactive.
The stock market is not an even playing field, and rather than complain about that fact, we must use it to our advantage by paying close attention to those who do have inside information.
Disclaimer
I hate using the word "complain" anytime I communicate and the use of the word "complain" is not directed at you - I've included the word with generality as other may read the post.
Skate.
P.S. and since creating this thread I've obtained my first follower. Hope its not the Feds!
Have you read Phillip A Fisher's "Uncommon Stocks, Uncommon Profit"?
He described his method in great details there. I couldn't think of anything else to add to his approach.
For what it's worth, I think talking to executives and the competition are more useful when you're investing in smaller companies. In large corporations, I haven't tried but I'm sure you and your couple dollars wouldn't make it pass the PR people.. .and getting to the senior execs might not be that useful as if the corp is big enough. I mean they're so well trained in salesmanship and things are so out of the execs control that they could hardly offer you anything that's not already in the annual reports and presentations.
For smaller companies where you could meet the boss, and where the intellect and drive of the top managers really determine the survival or not of a company... Wouldn't hurt to talk and really understand the business and have certain points clarified. Might get something.
But definitely check out Fisher's book if you haven't already.
You rate this Book as one of the best do you Luu? I've found a copy, just gotta take time to read it if it's that good.
Yes. One of the best I've read.
Buffett also think so too. I think Buffett rates Fisher up there, or higher, than Graham. But in my opinion Graham is somewhat misunderstood to be a "value" [cheap stocks] whereas Fisher look more at the quality and "growth" rather than getting an accounting bargain.
Unfair in that Graham talk plenty, and know plenty, about "growth" and quality. Just that I think him having gone through the Great Depression, maybe even personality wise.... he like stocks that are cheap and quality and growth, while he know about it, he'd rather not get into it.
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I guess it depends on how we approach investing.
If we see stocks as a commodity to be traded, as a financial instruments where we buy low and sell at a higher price... Then I'm sure there are plenty of books and methods out there. I'm not saying anything's wrong with such approach, I mean we're all here to make money and whatever dependable way we can do it, sure.
But if we approach stocks as the ownership of a business, a share in the earnings and growth of that business where owning one single share should be approached as though we were to own the entire company...
Then I don't think there's any more reading than Fisher, Graham, speeches and essays by Buffett and Munger.
I also like what Peter Lynch wrote too. But like most other books, they provide context rather than anything new or much more insightful into the "art" of business investing through stock/share ownership.
An Australian example would be what Roger Montgomery discusses. I saw a few of his ASX lectures and interviews. The quality stuff he talks about he picked up directly from Graham. And while I'm at it, he's wrong in the way he prices a business as well. Yea I know, telling a high powered fund manager he's wrong from my little shed
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The way I learnt investing was basically read those books above... understand their principles... i.e. study the stock as you would an entire business.
Then learn the updated accounting side of what Graham talks about. For example. When Graham wrote his "interpretation of financial statements", and way until quite recently, the Statement of Cash Flows weren't in the report. I'm sure there are plenty of changes to certain accounting standards etc. too....
But fundamentally, you're studying a business and accounting is very helpful in understanding the company's financial position and performance.
So you then either learn and know how to read financial statements accurately... or set up a spreadsheet... or use my little app
But accounting is historical. Business is about the future of course. Though I wouldn't stray too far into the future with hopes and dreams as that would be what Graham called "speculation".
I find that buying higher quality businesses, selling at (un)reasonably low prices tend to work out better than jumping into more speculative stocks. But what's speculation and what's "real" do have a lot to do with how much you know the business and how little you care for your money being gone if/when it goes down with dreams of world domination.
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