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> he says politely "I don't understand". He's been repeating it for 40 years. What this actually translate to is very simple: "I can't get an edge that I am u

by gist 8y ago

> he says politely "I don't understand". He's been repeating it for 40 years. What this actually translate to is very simple: "I can't get an edge that I am used to getting information wise from this company so I am pulling my investment". Now of course that could be because there isn't good info that they are willing or able to give him, or simply they will not play that game with him for some reason. Honestly he just doesn't like being in the same boat as ordinary people who invest. Or for that matter ordinary analysts or other high level investors. In order to be successful he has to go to the head of the line in some way. You have to have the tea leaves to read the tea leaves.

kbenson 8y ago
You make it sound a little negative, but really, shouldn't that be how everyone who picks individual stocks should act unless they're happy being more on the gambling side instead of the investing side of things? If the only info you can get is fully public info, the market should have accounted for it already, and in that case, you might as well take your money and but it somewhere more useful. And if you're fine with just riding the market, why risk an individual stock when you can use an index fund?
- gist 8y ago
  Except 'everyone' is not Warren Buffet and that is my point. He is able to hold meetings and interpret signals that the regular public simply can't do. He has access to go anwhere and see anything. Even if what he sees is 'public' it is still very helpful in determining whether an investment makes sense. He can feel the tempo and he can sense things (or the people he dispatches same point if they have access). I will give a very small example to illustrate my point. Years ago I was looking at buying a small business. I was there for about 2 hours. I noticed that the phone did not ring one time in the 2 hours. Let's assume for the sake of the story that the phone ringing was not super indicative of anything (with this business I mean it wasn't a Pizza takeout place) but somewhat meaningful. They didn't have to reveal anything secret at all for me to take that info into consideration. The problem with an index fund is that since it isn't a gamble you will never win big!

by gist 8y ago

kbenson 8y ago

You make it sound a little negative, but really, shouldn't that be how everyone who picks individual stocks should act unless they're happy being more on the gambling side instead of the investing side of things? If the only info you can get is fully public info, the market should have accounted for it already, and in that case, you might as well take your money and but it somewhere more useful. And if you're fine with just riding the market, why risk an individual stock when you can use an index fund?

gist 8y ago
Except 'everyone' is not Warren Buffet and that is my point. He is able to hold meetings and interpret signals that the regular public simply can't do. He has access to go anwhere and see anything. Even if what he sees is 'public' it is still very helpful in determining whether an investment makes sense. He can feel the tempo and he can sense things (or the people he dispatches same point if they have access). I will give a very small example to illustrate my point. Years ago I was looking at buying a small business. I was there for about 2 hours. I noticed that the phone did not ring one time in the 2 hours. Let's assume for the sake of the story that the phone ringing was not super indicative of anything (with this business I mean it wasn't a Pizza takeout place) but somewhat meaningful. They didn't have to reveal anything secret at all for me to take that info into consideration. The problem with an index fund is that since it isn't a gamble you will never win big!