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We don't deal in absolutes. We deal in probabilities.

Seth Klarman

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Seth Klarman
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: May 21
New York City
New York
Seth Andrew Klarman
Probabilities
Probability
Absolutes
Deal
Deals

More quotes by Seth Klarman

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Having clients with a long-term orientation is crucial. Nothing else is as important to the success of an investment firm.
Seth Klarman
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Having great clients is the key to investment success.
Seth Klarman
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As Graham, Dodd and Buffett have all said, you should always remember that you don't have to swing at every pitch. You can wait for opportunities that fit your criteria and if you don't find them, patiently wait. Deciding not to panic is still a decision.
Seth Klarman
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To a value investor, investments come in three varieties: undervalued at one price, fairly valued at another price, and overvalued at still some higher price. The goal is to buy the first, avoid the second, and sell the third.
Seth Klarman
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Macro worries are like sports talk radio. Everyone has a good opinion which probably means that none of them are good.
Seth Klarman
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At Baupost, we constantly ask: 'What should we work on today?' We keep calling and talking. We keep gathering information. You never have perfect information. So you work, work and work. Sometimes we thumb through ValuLine. How you fill your inbox is very important.
Seth Klarman
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Do not trust financial market risk models. Despite the predilection of some analysts to model the financial markets using sophisticated mathematics, the markets are governed by behavioral science, not physical science.
Seth Klarman
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Why should the immediate opportunity set be the only one considered, when tomorrow's may well be considerably more fertile than today's?
Seth Klarman
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As Buffett has often observed, value investing is not a concept that can be learned and gradually applied over time. It is either absorbed and adopted at once, or it is never truly learned.
Seth Klarman
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A commodity doesn't have the same characteristics as a security, characteristics that allow for analysis. Other than a recent sale or appreciation due to inflation, analyzing the current or future worth of a commodity is nearly impossible.
Seth Klarman
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We continue to adhere to a common-sense view of risk - how much we can lose and the probability of losing it. While this perspective may seem over simplisticor even hopelessly outdated, we believe it provides a vital clarity about the true risks in investing.
Seth Klarman
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Risk is not inherent in an investment it is always relative to the price paid. Uncertainty is not the same as risk. Indeed, when great uncertainty - such as in the fall of 2008 - drives securities prices to especially low levels, they often become less risky investments.
Seth Klarman
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Hold cash when opportunities are not presenting themselves.
Seth Klarman
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Generally, the greater the stigma or revulsion, the better the bargain.
Seth Klarman
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Investing is the intersection of economics and psychology.
Seth Klarman
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It's awful to have a depression, but it's a great thing to have a depression mentality because it means that we are not speculating, we are not living beyond our means, we don't quit our job to take a big risk because we know we might not get another job. There is something stable about a country, a society built on those values.
Seth Klarman
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When managers are afraid of redemptions, they get liquid. We all saw how many managers went from leveraged long in 2007 to huge net cash in 2008, when the right thing to do in terms of value would have been to do the opposite.
Seth Klarman
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Be indifferent if you lose your short term clients, remember they are your own worst enemy
Seth Klarman
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Avoiding where others go wrong is an important step in achieving investment success. In fact, it almost assures it.
Seth Klarman
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Analysts recommendations may not produce good results. In part this is due to the pressure placed on these analysts to recommend frequently rather than wisely.
Seth Klarman