Long term debt and bank debt (including off-balance sheet financing must be judiciously employed. There must be room to expand the debt position if required.

One of the dangers about net-net investing is that if you buy a net-net that begins to lose money your net-net goes down and your capacity to be able to make a profit becomes less secure. So the trick is not necessarily to predict what the earnings are going to be but to have a clear conviction that the company isn't going bust and that your margin of safety will remain intact over time.

To put money into anything, anywhere, provided that the downside is measurable and acceptable and the chances of a good profit appear to be better than 50%. I will not take gambles, but it is part of my job description to be ready to take very carefully calculated risks.

The company must be paying dividends. Preferably the dividend will have been increasing and have been paid for some time.

The price must be less than one half of the former high and preferably at or near its all time low.

There is almost always a major blip for whatever reason and we have learnt to expect it and not to panic.

The most important attribute for success in value investing is patience, patience, and more patience. The majority of investors do not possess this characteristic.