Quote

Speculators often prosper through ignorance it is a cliché that in a roaring bull market knowledge is superfluous and experience is a handicap. But the typical experience of the speculator is one of temporary profit and ultimate loss

Benjamin Graham

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Benjamin Graham
Age: 82 †
Born: 1894
Born: May 8
Died: 1976
Died: September 21
Economist
Financier
Investor
University Teacher
Writer
London
England
Loss
Bulls
Speculators
Knowledge
Typical
Handicap
Often
Temporary
Handicaps
Experience
Investing
Prosper
Profit
Roaring
Market
Bull
Ultimate
Clich
Ignorance
Superfluous
Speculator

More quotes by Benjamin Graham

Image
The chief obstacle to success lies in the stubborn fact that if the favorable prospects of a concern are clearly apparent they are almost always reflected already in the current price of the stock. Buying such an issue is like betting on a topheavy favorite in a horse race. The chances may be on your side, but the real odds are against you.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Many progressive economists insist that gold is now in essentially the same position as silver and that the arguments the simon-pure gold advocates use against the white metal can be directed with equal effect against their own fetish.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Though business conditions may change, corporations and securities may change, and financial institutions and regulations may change, human nature remains the same. Thus the important and difficult part of sound investment, which hinges upon the investor's own temperament and attitude, is not much affected by the passing years.
Benjamin Graham
Image
We urge the beginner in security buying not to waste his efforts and his money in trying to beat the market. Let him study security values and initially test out his judgment on price versus value with the smallest possible sums.
Benjamin Graham
Image
At heart, uncertainty and investing are synonyms.
Benjamin Graham
Image
The value of the security analyst to the investor depends largely on the investor's own attitude. If the investor asks the analyst the right questions, he is likely to get the right or at least valuable answers.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Buy when most people, including experts, are pessimistic, and sell when they are actively optimistic.
Benjamin Graham
Image
In an ideal world, the intelligent investor would hold stocks only when they are cheap and sell them when they become overpriced, then duck into the bunker of bonds and cash until stocks again become cheap enough to buy.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Stocks can be dynamite.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Only in the exceptional case, where the integrity and competence of the advisers have been thoroughly demonstrated, should the investor act upon the advice of others without understanding and approving the decision made.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Always remember that market quotations are there for convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored.
Benjamin Graham
Image
The investor should be aware that even though safety of its principal and interest may be unquestioned, a long term bond could vary widely in market price in response to changes in interest rates.
Benjamin Graham
Image
A defensive investor can always prosper by looking patiently and calmly through the wreckage of a bear market.
Benjamin Graham
Image
An intelligent investor gets satisfaction from the thought that his operations are exactly opposite to those of the crowd.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Unusually rapid growth cannot keep up forever when a company has already registered a brilliant expansion, its very increase in size makes a repetition of its achievement more difficult.
Benjamin Graham
Image
The distinction between investment and speculation in common stocks has always been a useful one and its disappearance is cause for concern.
Benjamin Graham
Image
The investor with a portfolio of sound stocks should expect their prices to fluctuate and should neither be concerned by sizable declines nor become excited by sizable advances. He should always remember that market quotations are there for his convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Price fluctuations have only one significant meaning for the true investor. They provide him with an opportunity to buy wisely when prices fall sharply and to sell wisely when they advance a great deal.
Benjamin Graham
Image
An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return.
Benjamin Graham
Image
Nothing important on Wall Street can be counted on to occur exactly in the same way as it happened before.
Benjamin Graham