Investing

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Dare to Be Wrong

The Sketchbook of Wisdom: A Hand-Crafted Manual on the Pursuit of Wealth and Good Life

Buy your copy of the book Morgan Housel calls “a masterpiece.” It contains 50 timeless ideas – from Lord Krishna to Charlie Munger, Socrates to Warren Buffett, and Steve Jobs to Naval Ravikant – as they apply to our lives today. Click here to buy now.

“Dare to be wrong,” Howard Marks wrote in one of his memos in 2014, very much like Charlie Munger told him, “It (investing) is not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid.”

Marks wrote –

You have to give yourself a chance to fail.” That’s what Kenny “The Jet” Smith said on TV the other night during the NCAA college basketball tournament, talking about a star player who started out cold and as a result attempted too few shots in a game his team lost. It’s a great way to make the point.

Failure isn’t anyone’s goal, of course, but rather an inescapable potential consequence of trying to do really well.

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Nobody Knows

The Sketchbook of Wisdom: A Hand-Crafted Manual on the Pursuit of Wealth and Good Life

I was an average student till the ninth grade. Just slightly above average to be precise. That is what my marks consistently showed. My parents did not expect much from me.

Tenth was when things changed. Through little bit of hard work, and great luck, I ranked among the top five in my class. My teachers were surprised. My parents did not believe my report card at first. But when the emotions settled, they said they were proud of my achievement. At least, that is what I heard.

After all, on a normal distribution curve, I had moved from ranking within one standard deviation of normal (lowly among top 50% of students) to within two standard deviations (among the top 16%).

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Philip Fisher on Four Dimensions of Investing – Part 4

This is the fourth and the final instalment of Philip Fisher’s “Four Dimensions of Investing” series. It’s recommended that you read the first three parts before reading this one.

The first three dimensions of conservative investment were essentially about the quality of the business itself. However, a great business becomes a great investment only when it’s acquired at a reasonable price. That means, without considering the price, the conservativeness of an investment process is still questionable. So, price is the fourth dimension of conservative investing.

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30 Ideas That Changed My Life

The Sketchbook of Wisdom: A Hand-Crafted Manual on the Pursuit of Wealth and Good Life

Whenever I feel uninspired, I look to a collection of my favorite quotes and passages I keep in a document on my computer or marked in my books (my idea bank). Today was one of those days.

As I was re-reading some of these and remembering why I love writing, reading, and the power of words, I thought perhaps someone somewhere out there might be feeling the same as me before I started writing this post.

So, here are 30 of the most beautiful passages (in no particular order) I have ever read on life and related subjects, and which have helped me become a better version of myself over the years.

Hope you find these passages of some help, and worth your time.

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Influencers are Not the Problem

The Sketchbook of Wisdom: A Hand-Crafted Manual on the Pursuit of Wealth and Good Life

Blaming the system is soothing because it lets you off the hook. But when the system is broken, we wonder why you were relying in the system in the first place.

~ Seth Godin

This story dates to September 2008. I remember this clearly because it happened on the day Lehman went bust.

The event is more vivid for me because, when the news broke out, I was less than a mile away from Lehman’s headquarters, with a school friend.

My friend, who was working in the tech division of another investment bank in the city, met me to discuss his India investments. His portfolio had already taken a beating in the financial crisis that had started at the beginning of 2008.

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16 Investing Lessons from a Superinvestor the World Forgot

Admission Open: Value Investing Workshops – Offline (Bangalore & Chennai) and Online

1. Offline Workshop (Bangalore and Chennai): The Bangalore session is planned on Sunday, 12th March. Chennai is on Sunday, 19th March. I am accepting only 50 students for each of these sessions, and first 25 can claim an early bird discount. Click here to know more and join the workshop.

2. Online Workshop – Admissions are also open for the March 2023 cohort of my online value investing workshop. The workshop involves 26+ hours of pre-recorded, detailed lectures and Q&A sessions, plus a 3-hour live online Q&A session scheduled on Sunday, 5th March 2023. I am accepting only 50 students in this cohort, and now less than 20 seats remain. Click here to know more and join the workshop.

What do you call an investor who earned 16% per annum on average over a 47 year period – that’s a 1,070-bagger – and is not called Warren Buffett?

What if I told you that this investor…

Did not care about corporate earnings
Rarely spoke to managements and analysts
Did not watch the stock market during the day
Never owned a computer, and
Did not even go to college

…you would not say anything but just ask me to reveal his name fast, so as to re-confirm whether such a super-investor has ever existed in the investment circles.

Well, before I tell you this man’s name, you must read what Buffett had to say about him…

…He doesn’t worry about whether it it’s January, he doesn’t worry about whether it’s Monday, he doesn’t worry about whether it’s an election year. He simply says, if a business is worth a dollar and I can buy it for 40 cents, something good may happen to me. And he does it over and over and over again. He owns many more stocks than I do — and is far less interested in the underlying nature of the business; I don’t seem to have very much influence on him. That’s one of his strengths; no one has much influence on him.

Now, if you haven’t already read below to find out who I am talking about, let me now disclose the name of this man, whom Buffett termed a Super Investor in his famous essay, The Superinvestors of Graham-And-Doddsville.

The Name is Schloss…Walter Schloss
“Walter who?” you may wonder if you have not read much about the world’s best-ever investors.

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10 Qualities of Great Investors

Admission Open: Value Investing Workshops – Offline (Mumbai) and Online

1. Offline Workshop: Mumbai – After a gap of 2 years, I am back with my live, offline Value Investing workshop. The first session is planned in Mumbai on Sunday, 22nd January 2023. I am accepting only 50 students for this session, and less than 10 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the Mumbai workshop.

2. Online Workshop – Admissions are also open for the January 2023 cohort of my online value investing workshop. The workshop involves 22+ hours of pre-recorded, detailed lectures and Q&A sessions, plus a 3-hour live online Q&A session scheduled on Sunday, 15th January 2023 (tomorrow). I am accepting 50 students in this cohort, and less than 5 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the online workshop.

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One of the first lessons I learned from my yoga teacher was that “yoga is not about rapid movements but long pauses. Slow down, calm down, don’t hurry, and trust the process.”

The thing about yoga — or any exercise — is that there isn’t a comfort zone. But if you have a sound process, and practice it diligently, over time it starts to work for you.

The act of investing your money, as I realize, isn’t much different from practicing yoga. A superior process and greatness often go hand in hand in yoga, and also in investing. For serious investors, thus, it’s wise to learn to trust the process that generates winning investment results.

I came across one such time-tested process framework while reading Michael Mauboussin’s “Reflections on the Ten Attributes of Great Investors.” Mauboussin is Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and author of some amazing books like The Success Equation and More Than You Know. He is a highly successful value investor, and thus the process he has laid out in his note is a great help for any serious investor seeking a winning investment process.

Here are my reviews of the ten attributes Mauboussin has laid out in his note.

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Investing and the Art of Getting Less Prejudiced

Admission Open: Value Investing Workshops – Offline (Mumbai) and Online

1. Offline Workshop: Mumbai – After a gap of 2 years, I am back with my live, offline Value Investing workshop. The first session is planned in Mumbai on Sunday, 22nd January 2023. I am accepting only 50 students for this session, and less than 10 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the Mumbai workshop.

2. Online Workshop – Admissions are also open for the January 2023 cohort of my online value investing workshop. The workshop involves 22+ hours of pre-recorded, detailed lectures and Q&A sessions, plus a 3-hour live online Q&A session scheduled on Sunday, 15th January 2023. I am accepting 50 students in this cohort, and less than 5 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the online workshop.

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Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922, proposed once that the goal of science is not universal truth.

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A Story of Courage and Hope from the Life of Charlie Munger

Admission Open: Value Investing Workshops – Offline (Mumbai) and Online

2. Online Workshop – Admissions are also open for the January 2023 cohort of my online value investing workshop. The workshop involves 22+ hours of pre-recorded, detailed lectures and Q&A sessions, plus a 3-hour live online Q&A session scheduled on Sunday, 15th January 2023. I am accepting 50 students in this cohort, and less than 5 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the online workshop.

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First things first. I wish you and your family a very happy, peaceful, and blessed 2023.

I am grateful to have you share this journey with me in the past, and look forward to continuing our connection in the years ahead.

Now for a story from the life of Charlie Munger, who is 99 years old today.

I have shared this story countless times over the years, because each time I talk or write about it, I experience a sense of inner peace and strength. And so, even if you have read this story earlier, read it again today as you begin taking your first steps into this brand new year.

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35 Ideas from 2022

Admission Open: Value Investing Workshops – Offline (Mumbai) and Online

1. Offline Workshop: Mumbai – After a gap of 2 years, I am back with my live, offline Value Investing workshop. The first session is planned in Mumbai on Sunday, 22nd January 2023. I am accepting only 50 students for this session, and less than 20 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the Mumbai workshop.

2. Online Workshop – Admissions are also open for the January 2023 cohort of my online value investing workshop. The workshop involves 22+ hours of pre-recorded, detailed lectures and Q&A sessions, plus a 3-hour live online Q&A session scheduled on Sunday, 15th January 2023. I am accepting 50 students in this cohort, and less than 10 seats remain now. Click here to know more and join the online workshop.

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Right before the year ends, I thought I’d share a handful of ideas I’ve read, learned, re-learned, and wrote about in the past twelve months. Here are 35 of them, in no particular order of importance. I hope you find these useful, as much as I did.

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