Sublime

operated by trust companies and banks in many states; or, if his funds are substantial, use the services of a recognized investment-counsel firm.

Above all, remember (again, courtesy of Warren Buffett), “What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end.” Or, as the Oracle of Omaha sometimes expresses it, “There are three i’s in every cycle: first the innovator, then the imitator, and finally the idiot.” No matter what fund managers may offer you, don’t you be the idiot.

Although the Oppenheimer Fund was never number one in any given year, over its first ten years, it had the best performance record of any mutual fund in the country, according to The New York Times.

Finally, if you look at the wealth management business, you’ll find just about everyone chasing the same demographic segment: the high-net-worth individual. Not Edward Jones, one of the consistently most successful U.S. brokerage firms. For thirty years, it has focused on customers defined not by how much money they have, but on their attitude towa

Any service that systematically updates stocks can help. I'd go through new editions of Value Line every week. I don't read, much less follow, the valuations or predictions. I studied the numbers.

investor should demand, in addition, a satisfactory ratio of earnings to price, a sufficiently strong financial position, and the prospect that its earnings will at least be maintained over the years.

The true investor . . . will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating results of his companies.

When a boxer in the ring finally has an opening and lands a powerful punch, he must always follow up his advantage . . . if he wants to win.

Steve Birch, another of our in-house money managers, started managing money earlier. He took advantage of the roaring bull market of the late 1990s and protected most of his gains by going mainly to cash in the bear market. Between 1998 and 2003, he had gained over 1,300%.