birdienumnum

[birdienumnum]

36 year old value and dividend investor, true stock junkie, with a minimum 20 year time horizon, rejoicing when markets crash (this creates even more buying opportunities), buying when the guns are blaring and selling when the trumpets are blaring, following the following principles (or at least I try to because I am not devoid of emotions):

1. I avoid certain sectors like the plague. Those I don't understand (techno) and those that are too complicated (automotive or aviation).

2. I'm a "micro" guy, I don't understand anything about "macro".

3. I practice pragmatic buy & hold, in the sense that I will not hesitate to part with a stock if the long-term fundamentals are no longer what they were at the time of my purchase.

4. I keep very little cash, the cash being used to make opportunistic acquisitions.

5. I don't trade, I don't have the time or the skills.

6. Holding gold is absurd. Warren Buffett rightly said: gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or somewhere. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.

7. For more than EUR 50k, it is better to build your own "investment fund" by shopping yourself rather than buying funds and paying high commissions to people stuffed with sushi and lattes. Moreover, funds can close, managers and investment policies can change, transparency is often limited to the 10 largest positions at the end of the financial year but nothing on their comings and goings or on the other positions!

8. Volatility is my friend!

9. I do not confuse "company" with "stocks". A good company, well managed, can see its shares broken, making it not worth the detour.

10. I invest in stocks, not in company products. For example, I don't like smoking but I love PM and MO.

11. I have a strong taste for family businesses because they are generally oriented towards sustainability. Many have paternalistic and humble management.

12. “Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It's to see my dividends coming in » John D. Rockefeller (ok I still have others )

13. I keep a close eye on the latest news and keep an eye out for investment opportunities. My virtual friends are Jim Cramer, Maria Bartiromo and Betty Liu (much to my wife's dismay).

14. I never invest directly in the BRICs but through companies based in developed countries that derive a large part of their revenue from these emerging markets. For example, the little-known Swiss giant DKSH, which just went public this year.

15. In terms of valuation, I look at the P/E for big caps while I look more at the Price per book value for small companies.

[Jerome]

Excellent presentation birdienumnum, very complete!
We have a lot in common: our generation, our aversion to gold, our long-term orientation, our love of dividends and crashing markets. The only real difference is volatility. It's not that I don't like it, since it allows me to buy at a good price, but I've learned that beyond a certain level it makes me do stupid things. When emotions like fear or euphoria get involved in the debate, it's never good. We all have different risk tolerances. I know that from 20-25% of relative standard deviation I start to screw up.

[birdienumnum]

Hello Jerome,

I actually noticed a lot of common points between us while reading your blog, your approach, your recommendations, etc... and allow me to congratulate you on your site because it is obvious that it takes up a lot of your time!

Regarding volatility, what I wanted to say is "we have to deal with it" and not be afraid of it. Since the financial crisis we have moved to the debt crisis, the EUR crisis, etc....for at least 3 years, it is clearly the macro that dictates the markets and the volatility is high, people are afraid, the markets are schizophrenic, in short...it's nonsense but we have to deal with it and have enough cash (and balls for these gentlemen) to enter the markets when they have corrected or capitulated (I am thinking for example of March 2009).

Otherwise, I too have been doing stupid things and dragging around skeletons since I started (which I have never sold)….my biggest fault is not knowing how to sell at a loss…I also think that this is the hardest thing for the investor.

[Jerome]

Thank you. Yes, all this takes time, but when you love, you don't count.
The trick is to find time after wearing yourself out at work and keep some of yourself for your own family. Not easy...

It is clear that volatility is both friend and foe. Friend in the sense that it allows us to buy low and sell high, but foe because it confronts us with our own emotions.

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