Beware leverage in all its forms. Borrowers - individual, corporate, or government - should always match fund their liabilities against the duration of their assets. Borrowers must always remember that capital markets can be extremely fickle, and that it is never safe to assume a maturing loan can be rolled over. Even if you are unleveraged, the leverage employed by others can drive dramatic price and valuation swings; sudden unavailability of leverage in the economy may trigger an economic downturn.

Loss avoidance must be the cornerstone of your investment philosophy.

Value investing is at its core the marriage of a contrarian streak and a calculator.

Do not suffer interim losses, relish and appreciate them

Hold cash when opportunities are not presenting themselves.

Targeting investment returns leads investors to focus on potential upside rather on downside risk ... rather than targeting a desired rate of return, even an eminently reasonable one, investors should target risk.

A value strategy is of little use to the impatient investor since it usually takes time to pay off.