This post is dedicated to all value investing people in the world and me included. Though it may seem like all the tricks of the Oracle has been laid out to us from decades of experience in investing, we can never become like Warren Buffett. Even if we try.
Warren Buffett is Warren Buffett. His skills are an evolutionary result of decades of experience in investing. What you and I can do is to learn from his knowledge and hope to experience the same thing he experienced. To see the situation in his eyes and do the same reaction he once did. But the fact is, the current Warren Buffett is the product of a long line of “upgrades”. Upgrading to each changing environment and personal circumstances.
What we can only hope for to learn, to become a Warren Buffett, is to know the ideas that can stand the test of time. And through that, experience the investing world on our own eyes. Recalibrate the gauges to meet this new environment. Meaning, to self-upgrade each time mistakes happen.
I am not saying that value investing does not work in modern times. I say that it is one of the most enduring ideas that will forever be true. But the intricate details that may prove to be important surrounding that big idea, may somehow be missing in modern times. Like buying and liquidating companies worth more dead than alive.
What we can all do is to keep on learning. Keep on adjusting. Keep on evolving. But always be on the lookout for ideas that are timeless. Like buying cheap and selling dear. That’s what value investing is all about.
This is not a post about surrendering and quitting investing. I haven’t lost on any of my bets yet. This is a post of reflection. To realize that I need to learn more and educate more of myself about value investing. And to create my own blend of value investing strategies on the foundational wisdom of the masters. As Sir Isaac Newton once said: “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulder of giants.”