The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Investors: How to Invest for Profit in Today's Changing Markets

by Peter Sander

Overview

Learn the necessary habits that will help you become a successful investor!

Especially after the wild ride that began in the fall of 2008, individual stock investing has become far more challenging. Think of a golf swing—hit it right and it goes far and straight, hit it wrong and you'll end up far off in the weeds. But—like much else in life—golf swings become habits when done right. Investing should be no different. What works should become habit, and each and every investor should develop his or her own set of habits for success. Peter Sander in this book reveals a set of twenty-five habits that lie behind his own personal investing success, habits loyal to the value investing principles of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett and others. These 25 habits—or your own version thereof—will help you hit your investments far and straight in the right direction!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440556630
Publisher:	Adams Media
Publication date:	11/18/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	859,209
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Peter Sander is an author, researcher, and consultant in the fields of business, location reference, and personal finance. He has written more than forty books, including Value Investing for Dummies, Personal Finance for Entrepreneurs, and 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Economics. The author of numerous articles dealing with investment strategies, he is also the coauthor of the top-selling the 100 Best Stocks series.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Part I Style For Success: Crafting Your Individual Investing Style 19

Habit 1 Know Yourself-and Know What to Expect: Know what's reasonable to expect over the long term, being realistic, patient, and prudent within your level of risk tolerance. 21

Habit 2 Know and Use Basic Investing Math: Like it or not, a few basic math principles, like compounding, can be really handy. 33

Habit 3 Get the Right-and Right Amount of-Information: Top much information can be as bad as not enough; how to get the right amount of the right stuff (and some suggestions). 45

Habit 4 Find Your Diversification Sweet Spot: Diversify to reduce risk without overdiversifying, which will compromise returns. 55

Habit 5 Segment, or "Tier," Your Portfolio: Think of your portfolio not as a single entity but as a tiered pyramid of investments with each tier receiving different amounts of attention and designed to achieve different objectives. 63

Habit 6 Work Hard and Work Smart: Contrary to what many think, investing is hard work; how to pull it off when it isn't your full-time occupation. 71

Part II Appraise for Success: Finding Your Very Best Investments 81

Habit 7 Buy Like You're Buying a Business: Even if you can only afford a few shares, pretend you're buying the whole thing. Learn to buy good BUSINESSES, not just good ideas. 83

Habit 8 Buy What You Understand, Understand What You Buy: Use a combination of life experience, skills, learning, and just plain looking around to really grasp a business and understand its underlying fundamentals and what makes it tick. If you don't understand it, don't buy it. 89

Habit 9 Appraise Funds Realistically: Know the costs and benefits of funds and their role in your portfolio, evaluate them objectively; don't assume that just because it's a fund it's a good investment. 97

Habit 10 Value Thy Fundamentals: Understand the financials and what drives the company's success, and whether they're improving or not. 109

Habit 11 Look for Cash in All the Right Places: Cash is king; learn how to evaluate cash inflows and outflows. 117

Habit 12 Don't Forget the Intangibles: Financials are results; they are lagging indicators. Make sure you read the LEADING indicators-brand, channel strength, customer loyalty, management strength, and others. 127

Habit 13 Put on Your Marketing Hat: Pretend you're the CMO for the business. How is your company doing in the marketplace? Is it gaining share or losing it? Are you competing on price alone or on some other value add? Is the company positioned for success? 137

Habit 14 Put on Your Street Shoes: As you think like a marketer, also think like a marketee-a customer. How is the company perceived by the customer? Look around at its facilities, online presence, etc. Does the experience "click"? Could it be improved? 149

Habit 15 Sense the Management Style: Are managers achievement oriented and all-in for the shareholders, or are they power oriented and all-in for themselves? 157

Habit 16 Look for Signs of Value, Signs of Unvalue: Assess each company for its ten signs of value and unvalue as per the list. 167

Habit 17 Do Your Threes-Three Pros, Three Cons: When you have your facts and impressions together, list the three strongest reasons to buy the investment and the three strongest to avoid it. 175

Habit 18 Buy with a Margin of Safety: Once you've decided that a company is good to own, now (and only now) decide if the price is right. Give yourself a margin of safety in case you're wrong. 181

Part III Own for Success: Getting the Most Out of Your Portfolio 189

Habit 19 Buy Smart-When You Decide to Buy: Watch price behavior before you buy to try to find a good entry point, but don't shirk a good entry point just to save a few cents. 191

Habit 20 Keep Your Finger on the Pulse: Watch your company as any absentee business owner might; check quotes and news stories, at least once a week, read up on not just the company, but the industry. Read earnings announcements; attend investor conference calls, etc. 199

Habit 21 React, But Don't Overreact, to News: Be concerned if bad news surfaces (or if the markets sour), but avoid selling the day of the news; let things settle out. Learn to distinguish between a short-term bad news blip and fundamental changes in the business. 205

Habit 22 Pay Yourself: Get some current cash out of your investments, through dividends, short-term rotational plays, or covered call options. 211

Habit 23 Don't Marry Your Investments: Always buy, hold, and sell rationally, not emotionally. It's a business, not a personal relationship. Don't get angry, don't get too attached, and don't get infatuated in the first place. 221

Habit 24 Sell When There's Something Better to Buy: Even cash can be something better to buy. 227

Habit 25 Measure Your Results: Don't hide your head in the sand-check how you're performing at least once a year; once a quarter or once a month is better. 235

Appendix 239

Index 249