There are many individuals who have made lots of $ trading stocks. If you dont know anyone, it doesnt mean they dont exist. Heard of Black Swans?

I take my hat off to those who can read charts, etc and make a fast buck.

I am ignorant. I am happy to buy and hold a bunch of companies with interesting prospects of their value becoming evident to the market. One such stock is Lion Asiapac (bought at 32 c). Another one is GuocoLeisure (bought at 40+ c).

What Warren Buffett wrote at the start of 2009 applies today:

We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism. Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations. Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health. They expect the financial experts to provide them with remedies, forgetting the fact that it is these experts who created this financial mess.

Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older.

This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.

Hard work : All hard work bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Laziness : A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.

Earnings : Never depend on a single source of income. (At least make your Investments get you second earning)

Spending : If you buy things you don't need, you’ll soon sell things you need.

Savings : Don’t save what is left after spending; Spend what is left after saving.

Borrowings : The borrower becomes the lender's slave.

Accounting : It’s no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.

Auditing : Beware of little expenses; A small leak can sink a large ship.

Risk-taking : Never test the depth of the river with both feet.

(Have an alternate plan ready )

Investment : Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I’m certain that those who have already been practicing these principles remain financially healthy. I'm equally confident that those who resolve to start practicing these principles will quickly regain their financial health.

Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

Many people want to reap profits. The maxim is, the more effort you put in, the higher the success/rewards. I know people who started learning about investing in their late 20s/early 30s/mid30s. The first $100K was difficult to make, but after that, they made their hundreds of K quite fast. The first million took many years, but after that .....

I know someone who quit at 40 from his manager job and focused on investing fulltime. Last time we met, he whispered that his net worth was abt $15m.

Tips from Warren Buffet --

Don't worry about market price action - your investee companies' business fundamentals are what matter most.

Build up you spare cash for investing when markets go crazy and sad

neontet wrote:

QUOTE:
Tips from Warren Buffet --

Don't worry about market price action - your investee companies' business fundamentals are what matter most.

Build up you spare cash for investing when markets go crazy and sad

I like this quote very, very much. I've been following it for the last 2.5 years and it has served me well thus far....

In the words of Warren Buffett, the greatest investor of all time:

>>>>>>>> Charlie and I look for companies that have a) a business we understand; b) favorable long-term economics; c) able and trustworthy management; and d) a sensible price tag. We like to buy the whole business or, if management is our partner, at least 80%.

When control-type purchases of quality aren’t
available, though, we are also happy to simply buy small portions of great businesses by way of stockmarket purchases. It’s better to have a part interest in the Hope Diamond than to own all of a rhinestone.

A truly great business must have an enduring “moat” that protects excellent returns on invested capital. The dynamics of capitalism guarantee that competitors will repeatedly assault any business “castle” that is earning high returns. Therefore a formidable barrier such as a company’s being the lowcost
producer (GEICO, Costco) or possessing a powerful world-wide brand (Coca-Cola, Gillette, American Express) is essential for sustained success.

Business history is filled with “Roman Candles,” companies whose moats proved illusory and were soon crossed.

Our criterion of “enduring” causes us to rule out companies in industries prone to rapid and
continuous change. Though capitalism’s “creative destruction” is highly beneficial for society, it precludes
investment certainty. A moat that must be continuously rebuilt will eventually be no moat at all.

Additionally, this criterion eliminates the business whose success depends on having a great
manager. Of course, a terrific CEO is a huge asset for any enterprise, and at Berkshire we have an abundance of these managers. Their abilities have created billions of dollars of value that would never have materialized if typical CEOs had been running their businesses.
But if a business requires a superstar to produce great results, the business itself cannot be deemed great.

A medical partnership led by your area’s premier brain surgeon may enjoy outsized and growing earnings, but that tells little about its future. The partnership’s moat will go when the surgeon goes. You can count, though, on the moat of the Mayo Clinic to endure, even though you can’t name its CEO.


Read it in full: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2007ltr.pdf