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The problem with bull markets is there is nothing much to do for the intelligent investor but there is everyone wanting to do something. Like the other day, even my father and my father-in-law now wants to invest in equity mutual funds. Which is not such a bad thing actually – but the timing suggests that it is time to repeat the same old stuff.

So as many times in the past, I went to the ‘Gita’ of value investing “The Intelligent Investor”, and again read some of the underlined writings that need to be repeated at times of such excitement in the markets.

So here goes – some excerpts that are especially to be remembered now. Nothing new, the same old stuff or “the exact same thing” as Jason Zweig says, again:

1. No statement is more true and better applicable to Wall Street than the famous warning of Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
2. We have not known a single person who has consistently or lastingly made money by thus “following the market”. We do not hesitate to declare this approach is as fallacious as it is popular.
3. Observation over many years has taught us that the chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of good business conditions. The purchasers view the good current earnings as equivalent to “earning power” and assume that prosperity is equivalent to safety.
4. The investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself
5. Speculative stock movements are carried too far in both directions, frequently in the general market and at all times in at least some of the individual issues.
6. The beauty of periodic re-balancing is that it forces you to base your investing decisions on a simple, objective standard.
7. A great company is not a great investment if you pay too much for the stock.
8. Even the intelligent investor is likely to need considerable will power to keep from following the crowd.
9. The intelligent investor shouldn’t ignore Mr. Market entirely. Instead, you should do business with him- but only to the extent that it serves your interests.
10. The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go.
11. High valuations entail high risks.
12. Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike.
13. Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it. Without a saving faith in the future, no one would ever invest at all. To be an investor, you must be a believer in a better tomorrow.

And finally, this one which is right at the beginning of the book in the foreword by Buffett.

“By developing your discipline and courage, you can refuse to let other people’s mood swings govern your financial destiny. In the end, how your investments behave is much less important than how you behave.”

 

“Wimbledon is a bit like Disneyland – it is a world of make-believe.” Jigneshbhai said when we met last. The three of us were just back from London having gone through the surreal experience of watching a couple of matches including one featuring Federer in Wimbledon.

Jigneshbhai was right indeed. Everything about Wimbledon is far from reality, but once you are taken by the trance, there is no coming back.

The magic that the only major still played on green lawns casts – with its white dresses for ‘gentlemen and ladies’, the strawberries and cream, the royalty, the Dukes and Duchesses,  the formal attire of the audience, the ball boys, and girls in their greens (now blues), the ‘quiet please, thank you’ takes you into a world of its own. Like Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, you know it is not quite real, but like in Disneyland, you still best enjoy it when you drown yourself in the shows and the parades that transport you into a different world of its own.

It is difficult to pin-point what exactly it is about Wimbledon, but it has been doing this to tennis players and fans across the world for over a hundred years now.

“And if anything completes this fairy tale of modern times better in today’s era, it is the sublime grace and majesty of Roger Federer in full flow.” Swami remarked in a truly inspired frame of mind. Like many tennis fans across the world, Swami and I had witnessed a bit of that magic over the past couple of games at Wimbledon.

More so in the semi-final against Djokovic, but partially also in the finals against Murray, Federer gave us glimpses of the sheer genius and astonishing brilliance that he was worshipped for, and which, even at the age of 30, he is still capable of.

In all honesty, till the end of the second set in the finals, we were searching for that flash of genius from Federer.

His game till that point reminded Swami a bit of the knock in the 2011 Cricket World Cup semi-finals that Sachin Tendulkar played against Pakistan – an old maestro who knew the importance of the occasion and wanted to give his best, but, in the face of an inspired opponent, was just about surviving and seeing things through – almost lucky to still be in the game.

I don’t know what it is about our sporting idols that we expect that even a slight drop in their invincibility makes us disappointed.

But for most of the semi-final and, perhaps, from the end of the second set in the finals, Federer was operating in ‘the zone’ as Swami called it, coming up with shots and serves, almost at will and at the right time, that left the audience spellbound and brought back memories of the glorious genius of Federer that we had experienced in the past.

“With 16 grand slams in his kitty even before Wimbledon this year, Federer was already assured of a place among the all-time greats, if not the all-time great, to have played the game.” Swami had said before the finals.

But now, the arguments and discussions about whether he is, indeed, the greatest will probably start all over again.

Even when he was at the peak of his game with much fewer titles in single digits a few years back, there used to be a story of an American and an Australian fan arguing whether Pete Sampras or Rod Laver were the greatest of all time.

And how a Swiss gentleman barged into their argument and said that the greatest is still playing the game and his name is Roger. At that time it was still a prediction, but by the time Federer is done, it is possible that there will be no more discussions – it may well be a foregone conclusion.

Who knows what else is in store?

A few years from now, tennis folklore will have stories of his magic. And those stories will start like this: Once upon a time in Wimbledon, there lived a king called Roger!