When it comes to investing, there is no reason not to listen to some of the best market minds in the world in order to get some great information on how to buy stocks, bonds and funds today. After all, they’ve made their billions and usually in a specific manner that, if copied, will usually end up with the same results; lots of money. Below is advice from three of the top market minds in the world that, when it comes to the stock market, is timeless. Enjoy.
Sir John Templeton was the Founder of Templeton Funds. One of his most famous quotes is this one: “If you buy the same securities everyone else is buying, you will have the same result as everyone else.” That’s sound, simple and powerful reasoning from a man whose indispensable wisdom said to buy at the point of maximum pessimism and sell at the point of maximum optimism.
In other words, Sir John was a bit of a contrarian. He was convinced that the best way to get a bargain in the stock market was to purchase that when all others were selling. Amazingly, when everyone was panicking at the start of World War II, he purchased shares from every single company listed on the New York Stock Exchange that was trading for less than $1.00. He ended up making a profit on nearly every single one that he purchased. Sir John was also the first to see the benefit of going outside of the United States to diversify his portfolio and indeed, investing internationally became sort of his signature. A person who invested $10,000 in Sir John’s flagship fund back in 1954 would have been sitting on a tidy $2 million sum by the time he retired in 1992.
The founder of Vanguard, Jack Bogle, can teach everyone a thing or two about avoiding fees when investing. One of his best quotes is this one; “Don’t let the miracle of long-term compounding of returns be overwhelmed by the tyranny of long-term compounding costs.” Back in 1976 when he launched the Vanguard 500, the first retail stock index fund, his detractors called it “Bogle’s Folly”. Since then however his idea, that since you can’t beat the market low costs and fees are the key to long-term success, has gained widespread acceptance. That’s not hard to understand considering that the Vanguard Group, with $2.6 trillion under management, is now the largest mutual fund family in the world.
Regarded by many as the top investor on the planet, Warren Buffett, is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and his annual letter to shareholders is picked over by investors looking to gain every bit of the man’s immense knowledge about the market and investing. One of his most famous quotes is this one: “Whether socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.” One bit of indispensable wisdom from Mr. Buffett is that you should only invest in what you understand and only if it’s at the right price. Buffet listened well to his mentor, Ben Graham, who taught him that buying stocks was akin to buying businesses. When the market was willing to sell them for less than they were worth, that was a signal to buy. He’s built a $65 billion fortune since the 1950s adhering to this basic investing philosophy, and picking up some of the best companies along the way including Geico, Disney, Coca-Cola and American Express.
There you go. Sound advice from 3 of the best in the world at investing. Use it well and, if you have questions, please drop us a line or leave a comment.