Value Vantage

Welcome to Value Vantage! I write about: - exceptional businesses - great investors - capital allocation - potentially mispriced stocks - timeless investing principles - books and ideas that sharpen judgment The goal is simple: To study what makes exceptional businesses and investors different. If you enjoy thoughtful writing on investing and business, follow along.

Going to be reading this book going forward - The Lessons Of History Ray Dalio was once asked about his top five books of all time, and this book was on his list. Looking forward to it! Have any of you read it? If so, what did you think?

@Dostoevskyquot It almost feels like reading a novel. The book talks about pretty complex mathematics at times, but the author did a great job writing in a way that is suitable for non-mathematicians as well. I like it!

@Value_Vantage Is it good? Crime and Punishment

which book are we reading this weekend

Lynch was a master in keeping it simple. His book One Up On Wall Street is fantastic!

Peter Lynch on how the simple strategy the average investor can use to beat 99% of the market:

@kinginvestings If you truly love the game, no. However, if you're not committed to using a great deal of time, then the best is to match the market (through an index fund).

Is trying to beat the market a waste of time?

@QCompounding This is very true. Simple, but not easy.

“A genius is the man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind.” – Napoleon

@SJosephBurns Yes, knowledge accumulates just like money.

The Power Of Continuous Learning: “I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines.” “They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up. And boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.” “Worldly wisdom is mostly very simple. There are only a few big ideas in history, and you just need to learn them. If you don’t keep learning, other people will pass you by. Temperament alone won’t do it, you need a lot of curiosity for a long, long time.” “Develop into a lifelong self-learner through voracious reading; cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little wiser every day. That is the game. And if you play it, you win.” — Charlie Munger, USC Law School Commencement (2007)

Interesting takeaway: A simplified version of the Kelly criterion is that investors should bet a proportion of the portfolio equal to 2.1 x p - 1.1, where p is the probability of being right. An example: Even if one is say, 75% certain of being right, the correct weighting remains high at 47.5% ((2.1 x 0.75) – 1.1).

Nomad Investment Partnership on portfolio concentration:

@readswithravi Yes, very true!

you cannot be interested and inconsistent.

@rumilyrics Reading

One habit that massively improved your mental health?

@CuriousMindsHub Very interesting

You become what you consume. A large-scale brain study shows reading is linked to stronger cognitive performance and healthier brain development. The content you choose today becomes the mind you have tomorrow.

@MoneyQuotesX Well, it sure is a good starting point

Saving money won’t make you rich.

@CharlieMunger00 Yes! Knowledge compounds just like money.

"The best investment is in yourself. The more you learn, the more you'll earn." - Charlie Munger

@InvestingCanons Also very important to study your own mistakes. Rub you noise in your mistakes, as Charlie Munger would say.

“I like to study failure…we want to see what has caused businesses to go bad." — Warren Buffett ✍️ Always invert.

@BoringBiz_ Absolutely outstanding

The early days of Berkshire's returns is absolutely insane when you put it next to the S&P 500 The outperformance is not just a few basis points. It is literally 5-7x the S&P in multiple years during this period Buffett was truly one of the greatest ever to do it

@Ronitper It's the humility to acknowledge that it's too hard that's the hardest.

“If something is too hard, we move on to something else. What could be simpler than that.” - Charlie Munger

@waronweakness I agree on this!

I'm convinced at least 80% of your writing style is a reflection of the books you like to read. Hell, it might even be higher than that.

@TedHZhang Seems intuitive at first, but it sure works wonder.

Not being stupid from the Tao of Charlie Munger. Another example of his inversion mental model.

@BrianFeroldi Diversification is protection against ignorance. It's perfectly fine to have a well diversified portfolio, but it makes little sense if you know what you are doing.

Concentration is overrated. You can beat the market by owning dozens of high-quality stocks.