I usually write on Safal Niveshak thrice a week, and on alternate days. So hearing from me two days back-to-back may seem odd to you.
But like a five-year old kid who wants to share with the world his new toy, I wanted to share with you a video I stumbled upon last night and could not wait to do that till Wednesday.
I couldn’t be patient like I try to be in my investing, so here I go! 🙂
Legacy of Ben Graham
Here is a video created by The Heilbrunn Centre for Graham and Dodd Investing of Columbia Business School, where Benjamin Graham taught value investing in the late 1920s.
This video showcases Graham giving a lecture (yes!), and also shares his students’ views on the legacy of this great man whom the world now knows as the ‘Father of Value Investing’.
Before you watch the video, here are five amazing quotes I’ve pulled out from the same, and which show the depth of Graham’s teachings that are still valid more than 80 years after he first taught them.
1. “The explanation cannot be found in any mathematics but has to be found in investor psychology. You can have an extraordinary difference in the price level nearly because, not only speculators but investors themselves, are looking at the situation through rose-colored glasses rather than dark blue glasses.” – Graham to students
2. “Ben Graham opened the course by saying, “If you want to make money on Wall Street you must have the proper psychological attitude. No one expresses it better than Spinoza the philosopher. Spinoza said, “You must look at things in the aspect of eternity.” – Marshall Weinberg on Graham
3. “Warren, don’t worry too much about making money. It won’t change the way you live. It’ll change the way our wives live. But look, you and I are wearing the same clothes and eating in the same cafeteria. So relax.” – Graham to Warren Buffett
4. “I don’t think necessarily, he realized what an impact he as making. He was a very modest man. Everything was experimental. Everything was new. Everything was exciting.” ~ Edwin Schloss on Graham
5. “He said everyday he wanted to do something foolish, something creative, and something generous.” – Warren Buffett on Graham
Finally, here’s the icing on the cake.
A student asks Graham – “This question concerns the so called “Wall Street professional”. Are Wall Street professionals usually more accurate in their near or long-term market trends, forecasts of stock market trends?”
Graham responds – “Well, we’ve been following that interesting question for a generation or more. And I must say frankly our studies indicate that you have your choice of tossing coins or taking the consensus of expert opinion, and the results are just about the same in each case.” 🙂
Now, without much ado, I am happy to share with you something that gave me goose bumps a few hours back.
If you follow Graham as well, this may well be the video of the year for you. 🙂
If you can’t see the video above, click here.
Thanks Vishal for sharing this wonderful video.
Is there any academic school focusing on Value Investing in India?
You can attend the famous “BFBV -behavioral finance and business valuation” course taken by prof. Sanjay Bakshi in MDI Gurgaon. It starts somewhere in october. Professor do allow guets to attend his lectures but you need to persuade him. Its really worth to put the efforts..:)
Hi Vishal, Thanks for Sharing this rare video.
Hari
My pleasure, Hari!
Dear Vishal,
Amazing Video !! Ben’s thoughts are even better.
Looking companies from the perspective of holding them in your portfolio for eternity and focusing on the investor friendly virtues (great dividend yields, regular dividend payouts) business model which can stand the test of time, competitive advantages, Innovation and leadership, Is the company solving/serving a human problem?…all these thoughts will guide your mind to further analyze and contemplate on the stock. This psychology and philosophy can do wonders for an average investor.
Regards
Akhilesh
The last statement in the video is prophetic. It takes hit on so called efficient market hypothesis at a time when it was yet to be fully developed. A student asked whether analysts and brokers are wise in their approach and Ben Graham said something like “There is no difference between random outcome of tossing a coin and consensus on the wall street. What they know gets fully factored in short term. However what they don’t know gets factored over a long term.”
Vishal thanks again for this beautiful post. Benjamin Graham never ceases to amuse me. I read The Intelligent Investor once and I thought that I fully soaked Graham through it. But I now know that I need to revisit it again for there is much more to be learnt.
Very true, Gaurav. Each time I read Graham, I find an amazing idea that slipped my mind last time. 🙂
I felt my heart beat when i watched him in this video. After reading his book , I felt like. Witnessing the almighty after reading the holy book. No words to descirbe the feeling.
Indeed Anand! 🙂
Wow, this is great. thanks
My pleasure, Sudhir!
Interesting video. Its very rare to see videos of Great Gurus of the past….but this one seems interesting. Thanks for summarizing those 5 points…..it was actually more helpful in understanding the content and appreciate the context of what is being spoken about. Thanks Vishal.