
Although I used to carry my head high when I referred to myself as a technician and a trader, I began to realize several things. First, a stock (in the long term) isn’t merely a ticker, it’s an ownership stake in a corporation with cash flows, a balance sheet, and sales. Therefore, because there are people in the marketplace who trade assets based on the short term (a valid strategy for some) stocks can trade at huge discounts (or premiums) from their true, intrinsic values which will be reached in the long term. An investor who learns how to understand and value businesses can learn to take advantage of Mr. Market’s irrationality and profit by purchasing assets for 40 to 70 cents on the dollar.
I’ve evolved from candlestick charts to cash flow statements and technical indicators to income statements by, among other things, reading more than 50 books on investing, studying the letters of Warren Buffett, and speaking with some of the brightest investors around. Some of the people who’ve had the most influence on my investing strategies include: James Altucher (Formula Capital, Trade like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett, Supercash), Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway), Charlie Munger (Berkshire Hathaway, Wesco), Joel Greenblatt (Gotham Capital, The Little Book that Beats the Markets, You Can Be a Stock Market Genius), Thomas Hudson (Pirate Capital), Whitney Tilson (Tilson Funds, Value Investor Insight), Hewitt Heiserman (It’s Earnings that Count), Ben Graham (The Intelligent Investor, Security Analysis) and Shai Dardashti (Dardashti Capital).
Good luck in your investing pursuits!