Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the legendary value investor Benjamin Graham.
Wall Street people learn nothing and forget everything. – Benjamin Graham
Benjamin Graham was referring to the hype he was saw coming from Wall Street. A lot of speculation. A log of fluffy news. A lot of hype to get traders and investors greedy and wanting more. Graham knew markets would always fluctuate, and he saw a solid investing approach in value investing. He searched for the gems that would reward him tremendously as he held on to it for a longer time. He didn’t seem to care for speculation in the markets at all, and I think this quote really reflects his attitude towards speculators. Maybe he saw speculation as a technique that had perhaps short term potential, but was not a solid long term investing tool.
I agree with Benjamin Graham on Wall Street people – including online daytraders and investors – that most people learn nothing and forget everything. However, there are many of us out there looking to learn more and improve our gains. But we all have to remember the tech boom, and bust. And we still see a lot of hype coming from Wall Street. One week it’s oil. The next week it’s tech. Television shows like Jim Cramer’s Real Money also help build hype and get people hearing about stocks they would normally never have heard of.
What do you think Benjamin Graham was talking about in his quote? Leave your comment!