April 17, 201
From 1977 to 1990 Fidelity Investment‘s Magellan Fund averaged a 29.2% per year! This was during the time Peter Lynch managed the fund. That record has never been matched. He is considered one of the most successful stock market investors of all time. His style highlights the importance of research and patience. He believes controlling your thoughts when making investment decisions is the key to success.
If you had $100,000 invested at the beginning of his tenure, you would have $2,800,000 by the time he left 13 years later!
I have reread his book One up on Wall Street about every 3 years for the last 25 plus years. He has had more influence on my thinking than anyone other than perhaps Warren Buffett. I consider those two the “twin towers of investing”. I would recommend that everyone get on line and order a copy!
He believes great stocks are found many times at a casual visit to the grocery store or mall. When you see a company and think “that’s really cool” take note!
Not only is there wisdom in the book, but Lynch is very witty, and it is a fun read. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Peter Lynch:
- “Go for a business that any idiot can run – because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it.”
- If you spend more than 13 minutes analyzing economic and market forecasts, you’ve wasted 10 minutes.
- “If you’re prepared to invest in a company, then you ought to be able to explain why in simple language that a fifth grader could understand, and quickly enough so the fifth grader won’t get bored.”
- “There is always something to worry about. Avoid weekend thinking and ignoring the latest dire predictions of the newscasters. Sell a stock because the company’s fundamentals deteriorate, not because the sky is falling.”
- “Never invest in any idea you can’t illustrate with a crayon”
- “Thousands of experts study overbought indicators,
oversold indicators, head-and-shoulder patterns, put-call ratios, the Fed’s
policy on money supply, foreign investment, the movement of the constellations
through the heavens, and the moss on oak trees, and they can’t predict markets
with any useful consistency, any more than the gizzard squeezers could tell the
Roman emperors when the Huns would attack.”
Give me a call if you run into an amazing business during your travels!
Craig