This is a comprehensive collection of investment advice structured as a 33-section notes. Here is a detailed summary of each section.
Introduction: THE INTELLIGENT INVESTORS
This section introduces the core text for the entire discussion: Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor. It is highlighted as the definitive book on value investing, endorsed by Warren Buffett. Links to an e-copy, an audiobook, and various online summaries are provided to equip the reader with the foundational knowledge required for the topics to follow.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/introduction-intelligent-investors.html
Section 1: The Investment Policies based on Benjamin Graham
This section outlines Benjamin Graham's core investment policies, categorizing strategies for different goals (fixed income, moderate appreciation, and profit). It crucially distinguishes between "defensive" investors (who seek safety and minimal effort) and "enterprising" investors (who are willing to put in intelligent effort for higher returns). The fundamental difference between investment (thorough analysis, safety of principal, satisfactory return) and speculation is explained.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-investment-policies-based-on.html
Section 2: Knowing yourself – Investment Objectives, Time Horizon and Risk Tolerance
Emphasizes that successful investing starts with self-assessment. Before investing, one must clearly define their investment objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance. A link to a questionnaire is provided to help readers understand their relationship with money. Personal financial capacity and cash flow are also noted as critical factors.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/knowing-yourself-investment-objectives.html
Section 3: Asset Allocation
Posits that asset allocation (how you divide your money among stocks, bonds, and cash) is the most critical factor in a portfolio's success, accounting for 90-95% of its returns. The five key factors for asset allocation are reiterated: investment goal, time horizon, risk tolerance, financial resources, and investment mix.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/asset-allocation.html
Section 4: Learning the stories of Some Successful Individual Investors
Presents case studies of successful, often frugal, investors to illustrate key principles:
4a: Anne Scheiber: A retired auditor who turned a small initial investment into a massive fortune through long-term, focused investing in blue-chip stocks and reinvesting dividends.
4b: Uncle Chua: A barely literate man who accumulated significant wealth by consistently investing in a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks.
4c: Warren Buffett: Highlighted as a "closet dividend investor" whose long-term holdings in companies like Coca-Cola generate enormous "yield on cost," demonstrating the power of holding great businesses.
4d: The Millionaire Tramp (Curt Degerman): A Swedish tramp who amassed a fortune by collecting cans and shrewdly investing the proceeds in the stock market and gold.
4e: Be like Grace (Grace Groner): A secretary who turned a single $180 investment in Abbott Labs into $7 million through 75 years of patient holding and dividend reinvestment.
Section 5: The Impact of Reinvesting Dividends
Uses powerful charts to illustrate the dramatic long-term impact of reinvesting dividends versus taking them as cash. Over many decades, reinvesting dividends contributes a massive portion of the total return from the stock market, turning average returns into exceptional wealth through compounding.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-impact-of-reinvestment-of-dividends.html
Section 6: Keep it Simple and Safe (KISS version). Strategies for buying and selling.
Provides a simple, safe framework for investment decisions:
Buying (ABC): Assess Quality, Management, Valuation (QMV); Buy good quality stocks; at a Conservative price (Margin of Safety).
Selling (1,2,3,4): 1) Need cash for an emergency; 2) Fundamentals permanently deteriorate (Urgent); 3) Stock is significantly overvalued (Offensive); 4) To reinvest in a better opportunity (Offensive).
Section 7: Concept of “Equity Bond” of Warren Buffett
Explains Buffett's concept of viewing a stock as an "equity bond." The share price is the "bond" and the company's pre-tax earnings per share is the "coupon" or interest payment. The key is that for a great company, this "coupon" increases over time, making the "bond" far more valuable than a fixed-income bond.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/concept-of-equity-bond-of-warren-buffett.html
Section 8: What is risk? Risk is not knowing what you are doing. The enemy (inflation) and the friend (compounding) of your cash.
Challenges the conventional definition of risk. True risk is not volatility, but the permanent loss of capital, often caused by investing in something you don't understand. For long-term investors, the biggest enemy is inflation, which erodes the purchasing power of cash, while the most powerful friend is compounding.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/what-is-risk-risk-is-not-knowing-what.html
Section 9: Return/Risk ratios of various Asset Allocations
Uses a chart to demonstrate that a portfolio of 80% bonds and 20% stocks can offer a higher return with lower risk than a 100% bond portfolio. This illustrates the counter-intuitive benefit of adding a modest amount of equity to a conservative portfolio to improve its risk/return profile.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/returnrisk-ratios-of-various-asset.html
Section 10: In the face of uncertainty, remember Pascal Wager
Applies Pascal's Wager (a philosophical argument about believing in God) to investing. Since the future is uncertain, one should focus on the consequences of being wrong rather than just the probabilities of being right. A margin of safety and diversification ensure that a single mistake is not catastrophic.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/pascals-wager-focus-more-on.html
Section 11: Diversification, market risks and stock specific risks
Distinguishes between two types of risk:
Stock-specific risk: Can be largely eliminated by holding a diversified portfolio of 7-10 stocks.
Market risk: Cannot be diversified away as it affects the entire market (e.g., recession, interest rates). For those unable to pick stocks, Buffett's recommendation of low-cost index funds is presented as a sound alternative.
Section 12: Discussions on retirement investing & EPF
A practical discussion on whether to withdraw EPF savings at age 55. Key considerations include: the safety and decent historical dividends of EPF, the need for higher returns to beat inflation, and the investor's own ability and knowledge to manage the lump sum. The consensus is that leaving money in EPF is a good default option for the risk-averse.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/retirement-investing-epf.html
Section 13: Investing is most intelligent when it is most business like (Life cycles and types of company)
Argues that one should think like a business owner when buying stocks. It introduces frameworks for categorizing companies:
13a: Life Cycle: Stages from Start-Up to Decline, indicating dividend and growth potential.
13b: Peter Lynch's 6 Types: Sluggards, Stalwarts, Fast Growers, Cyclicals, Turnarounds, and Asset Plays.
13c: Buffett's 3 Gs: Great businesses (high returns, need little capital), Good businesses (decent returns, need more capital), and Gruesome businesses (grow fast but earn little).
Section 14: Some articles to guide your EPF savings
Provides external articles discussing the pros and cons of lump-sum vs. partial EPF withdrawals, the challenge EPF faces in maintaining high dividends, and the importance of having a draw-down strategy for retirement funds.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/guide-for-your-epf-savings.html
Section 15: Your retirement money management
Offers a link to an article on defining wealth and managing money in retirement, focusing on shifting from accumulation to a sustainable withdrawal phase.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-do-i-manage-all-my-money-in.html
Section 16: An interesting assignment – how to invest $200,000?
Poses a practical challenge: how to invest a lump sum for a 60-year-old with a high-risk tolerance and a goal of 15% annual returns. The solution involves finding 7-10 "good quality growth companies" that meet stringent QMV criteria and buying them at a price that offers a significant margin of safety.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-to-invest-200000.html
Section 17: Finding good quality growth companies
Introduces a visual method for identifying quality companies: plotting their revenue and earnings per share on a log scale chart. A good quality growth company will show two parallel, upward-sloping lines, indicating consistent and predictable growth in both top and bottom lines.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/finding-good-quality-growth-companies.html
Section 18: Be a stock picker – bottom-up approach.
Encourages a bottom-up approach, focusing on the quality of individual companies rather than trying to time the market. Examples of "GREAT" companies (like Coca-Cola and Walmart) are shown, emphasizing that it's better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/be-stock-picker-bottom-up-approach.html
Section 19: QMV method (QUALITY, MANAGEMENT & VALUATION)
Delves deeper into the QMV method, focusing on the valuation step. It explains how to project future earnings, determine a stock's historical high, low, and average P/E ratios, and calculate the potential return. The goal is to find stocks with an upside/downside ratio of at least 3:1 and a potential total return of >15% per annum.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/qmv-method-quality-management-valuation.html
Section 20: Definition of Investing by Benjamin Graham
Reposts Graham's precise definition of an "investment operation" to reinforce the core philosophy: it must be based on thorough analysis, promise safety of principal, and offer a satisfactory return. All other activities are speculative.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/definition-of-investing-by-benjamin.html
Section 21: Portfolio Management (The Gardening Approach)
Frames portfolio management as gardening:
Planning: Have a strategy.
Planting: Buy quality stocks at good prices.
Weeding: Sell losers and deteriorating stocks (defensive).
Feeding: Reinvest dividends.
Pruning: Sell overvalued stocks to buy better opportunities (offensive).
Section 22: QMV worksheet (Page 1 - Quality & Management, Page 2 - Valuation)
Provides a two-page worksheet that operationalizes the entire QMV process. Page 1 checks for Quality of Growth and Management, while Page 2 handles the Valuation calculations, helping an investor make a disciplined, data-driven decision.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/qmv-worksheet-page-1-quality-management.html
Section 23: Four Investing Filters of Buffett (video). Always stay within your circle of competence.
Summarizes Buffett's four simple filters for stock selection: 1) Can I understand the business? (Circle of Competence), 2) Does it have a durable competitive advantage? 3) Is management able and trustworthy? 4) Is the price sensible? (Margin of Safety).
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/four-investing-filters-of-buffett-video.html
Section 24: Games people Play. Choose the games you wish to play.
Applies game theory to investing. It advises playing "positive-sum games" (like long-term investing in productive assets) and avoiding "negative-sum games" (like frequent trading with high fees). Knowing which game you are in is crucial to success.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/games-people-play-choose-games-you-wish.html
Section 25: Durable Competitive Advantage – where you will find your riches.
Details the concept of a durable competitive advantage ("economic moat"), which is the key to long-term business success. Companies with moats typically fall into three categories: selling a unique product, selling a unique service, or being the low-cost buyer/seller. Their financial statements will show consistency in high profit margins and returns on capital.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/durable-competitive-advantage-where-you.html
Section 26: Another QMV (Technamental) worksheet
Presents another version of the QMV worksheet, showing how the philosophy can be implemented into a practical tool, potentially via software, to streamline the analysis.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/another-qmv-technamental-worksheet.html
Section 27: What you must know about Mutual Funds
Discusses the role of mutual funds (unit trusts) for investors who lack the time or expertise to pick individual stocks. It notes that most actively managed funds underperform the market index after fees, making low-cost index funds a highly recommended option for the majority of investors.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/what-you-must-know-about-mutual-funds.html
Section 28: Compounding, the 8th wonder of the world.
Celebrates the power of compound interest, using stories like Anne Scheiber and Warren Buffett to show that most wealth is built in the later years. The "Rule of 72" (72/interest rate = years to double) is introduced. The key message is to start early and let time work its magic.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/compounding-8th-wonder-of-world.html
Section 29: Behavioural Finance. The biggest enemy in investing is yourself.
Introduces Behavioral Finance, the study of how psychology leads to irrational financial decisions. It highlights "Recency Bias" (the "Party Effect"), where investors extrapolate recent market performance into the future, leading them to buy high and sell low. Overcoming these innate biases is critical.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/behavioural-finance-biggest-enemy-in.html
Section 30: Know what you are buying – investment products, insurance and mutual funds.
Offers practical warnings:
Scrutinize the structure and fees of investment products (e.g., "capital guaranteed" funds may be misleading).
Use insurance for protection, not as an investment vehicle.
When choosing a fund, understand its stated investment philosophy, like the example from Magellan Funds provided.
Section 31: SUMMARY OF A SOUND INVESTMENT POLICY
A concise recap of the core principles: Graham's investment policies for defensive and enterprising investors, and the KISS (Keep it Simple and Safe) strategy for buying (ABC) and selling (1,2,3,4).
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/summary-of-sound-investment-policy.html
Section 32: Additional Notes
A collection of additional insights from Graham and Buffett, including:
Enterprising investors should seek opportunities where price deviates from value due to market pessimism, complexity, or neglect.
Beware of free investment advice from friends and relatives.
Distinguish between market timing (speculation) and pricing (investing).
Section 33: May your investing be happy, safe and profitable over the long term.
A concluding section that recaps all the topics covered and reiterates the most important rule: Always prioritize the safety of your capital first. The ultimate goal is to build a sound investing philosophy that can be applied over the long term.
https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/may-your-investing-be-happy-safe-and.html
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