Psychology is probably the most important factor in the market - and one that is least understood.

Favored stocks underperform the market, while out-of-favor companies outperform the market, but the reappraisal often happens slowly, even glacially.

I paraphrase Lord Rothschild: ‘The time to buy is when there's blood on the streets.'

We invest in undervalued companies that exhibit strong fundamentals, above-market dividend yields and historic earnings growth, which our analysis indicates will persist. Our strategy is to own strong, fundamentally sound companies and to avoid speculative stocks or potential bankruptcies.

A good starting point [in the measurement of investment risk] is the preservation and enhancement of your purchasing power in real terms.

Demanding immediate success invariably leads to playing the fads or fashions currently performing well rather than investing on a solid basis. A course of investment, once charted, should be given time to work out. Patience is a crucial but rare investment commodity.

If you have good stocks and you really know them, you'll make money if you're patient over three years or more.