The stock market resembles a huge laundry in which institutions take in large blocks of each others washing ... without rhyme or reason.

Always remember that market quotations are there for convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored.

Even with a margin of safety in the investor's favor, an individual security may work out badly. For the margin guarantees only that he has a better chance for profit than for loss - not that loss is impossible. But as the number of such commitments is increased the more certain does it become that the aggregate of the profits will exceed the aggregate of the losses.

Even defensive portfolios should be changed from time to time, especially if the securities purchased have an apparently excessive advance and can be replaced by issues much more reasonable priced.

A speculator gambles that a stock will go up in price because somebody else will pay even more for it.

The stock market resembles a huge laundry in which institutions take in large blocks of each others washing ... without rhyme or reason.

Losing some money is an inevitable part of investing, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. But to be an intelligent investor, you must take responsibility for ensuring that you never lose most or all of your money.