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Pittards is one in a short-list of companies I’ve compiled for further investigation as potential net current asset value investments. While I go through the others – which will take a few days – I’ll post some investment ideas which are reminders of what we, as investors rather than speculators, are supposed to do.
First: how smart do you have to be to be an investor?
The great investors agree that exceptionally high IQ is not required – a great relief to me as I’m neither quick-witted nor good at Mensa-type tests.
I heard Warren say that there are some people who have 400 horse-power engines but only get 100 horse-power output. I guess many of us know high-IQ people who do very little with it – you might recall some smart school friends who did not really achieve.
Far better is to be a 200 horse-power person who gets out 200 horse-power. What matters is how efficiently the motor works.
This requires investment in yourself – be a lifelong learner. Make time for thinking and learning, rather than always doing. When I taught at Schroders I’m convinced the 20-somethings there thought I was out-of-touch, an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy by not purchasing the latest smart phone, but I can’t bring myself to the conclusion that the costs of the phone are less than the benefits – I do not mean the direct financial costs, I mean the lost time for thinking and learning that comes about because you spend too long looking at a screen: always-on, instant news, regular calls and texts.
Why do you think Warren moved from New York in 1956 where “there was so much noise that keeps hitting you” to Omaha “where he could think”?
How do you get 200 horse-power out?
There are three main areas to work on.
•Habits
Many of us fall into habits that waste time or lead us to think about the wrong things. A trick: identify people………..To read the rest of this article, and more like it, subscribe to my premium newsletter Deep Value Shares – click here http://newsletters.advfn.com/deepvalueshares/subscribe-1
