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That's a a theory - so is buy low sell high. Wahoo for profitable theories
But how goes the application? Made your millions yet?
I’m not sure how Buffett or most of F/A in general fits into an evidence based thread. Assuming we are looking for evidence to a scientific standard.
Certainly Buffett & Co and there are long term successful T/A exponents as well provide enough evidence to nullify the efficient market hypothesis. But there is no evidence I have ever seen of what does work every time.
Most of the papers approach things from the perspective of showing the lowest deciles beat the highest deciles or such & such approach beats buy& hold – none of it is really aimed at testing hypotheses by looking for nullifying evidence. If you approached it this way every concept I know of would be nullified because none of it is underpinned by an ironclad law.
What the academic literature shows is “generalities” of things that tend to work on a probability basis. Some papers go to the level of confidence levels to try and ensure the observed generality is not a random occurrence but even a 95% confidence that an observation is not random is far different from collecting evidence to nullify a hypothesis.
The better generalities have appeared again & again over many papers, many markets and many timeframes, but how stable they will be into the future as people try to harvest them will be the big question. My suspicion is only the hardest (least cost effective or psychologically difficult) to harvest will survive.
Deciphering quantitative evidence in F/A is harder than T/A because you have the language of accounting defining a lot of the terms whereas price is pretty straight forward. So even if you get a confidence level that a F/A generality exists you have to be mindful of the underlying definition of the variable.
Here is a good summary of some generalities that have been persistent. (But none of it is sufficiently evidence based in my opinion – so not sure it fits this thread).
http://www.tweedy.com/resources/library_docs/papers/WhatHasWorkedFundOct14Web.pdf
My main interest around the concept of evidence based is how people cope once they see holes in the beliefs that used to fortify their involvement in the market. Do they look.
That's a a theory - so is buy low sell high. Wahoo for profitable theories
But how goes the application? Made your millions yet?
Pick a company with a business you could understand.
Read its reports and account.
Read into its industry and competitors.
See if the company is going to go broke. See how it has been doing. See what are its assets and liabilities. See how its returns has been.
Estimate its position in relation to the industry. Have an idea of how its future would work out - will it still survive, will it go broke...
Then estimate its approximate value.
Buy below those estimates.
---
Not easy. Not effortless. Not always possible to find business you know and like and sell at a good price.
But not exactly Rocket Science either.
You think that's all there is to Buffets success?
1 Buffett
Possibly 100s of Thousands of followers of the Buffett Principal.
Where are all the NEW Buffetts?
Staying below the radar.
I always see successful people in two boats :
1. They want everyone to know their success and tell the world
2. They prefer to remain quiet and get on with business.
I am sure there are 100's of successful traders and investors to varying degrees, out there getting on with business.
You think that's all there is to Buffets success?
I'm sure there are
But New Buffets would be conspicuous particularly any number of them.
It appears Buffet principals are championed by budding Buffets rather than
New Buffets. Personally I think it's a tremendously logical principal.
Unfortunately logic regularly under performs expectation.
Maybe I read into what people are saying. That I know what they're implying.
Then estimate its approximate value.
I guess that is the problem here, we have all been respectful enough to listen and take on your comments as would be appropriate when holding discussion with other adults, while you have an argument with yourself about the things you think others are implying.
I guess it's over for me once the thread devolves from luutzu arguing with successful investors about why they can't estimate the value of a firm, into luutzu explaining to wayneL how easy it is to invest by estimating the value of a firm..sorry tech. Another thread bites the dust!
There's a free summary of this book available (180pages)
http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2470/rf.v2012.n1.1
Sinner
Luutzu
Demonstrates brilliantly the lack of ability to understand what is needed to
Determine if your method that you adopt to trade can be profitable----when you trade it.
Roger Federa wins tennis tournaments
So do Andy Murray
And Rafael Nadal
---- so then can I ---- what more proof do you/I need!
Again I'm not looking for proof I'm looking for method used to demonstrate an evidence based result.
The exact opposite to that being offered up here.
It's this sort of logic that Joe Public Gobbles up and why 90 % fail.
Not necessarily....Lest I get accused of putting words in your mouth - saying "looking for papers on evidence based results..." - is looking for a proven system that works right?
...
Not necessarily.
The motivation for asking could be to demonstrate to others that there is a distinct lack of evidentiary support for deeply entrenched beliefs.
It's interesting that you say that.Maybe. Just I doubt that's the case here.
...
Are systems and reason/understanding mutually exclusive?...
When you see and hear that and you're not satisfy with it, you're not looking for reason and understanding, you're looking for a system.
It's interesting that you say that.
I actually thought that my alternative was likely to be the case here, however, knowing that there certainly are other possibilities, I'd prefer not to make the error of automatically presuming the correctness of my opinions on the thoughts and/or motivations of others.
Are systems and reason/understanding mutually exclusive?
If not, how could one arrive at such a conclusion?
Whilst that's not quite how I would define a system, I am otherwise largely agreeable.If system is defined as a set of principles, as an approach, then it's not mutually exclusive.
I'm not quite sure that I correctly understand the point you're trying to make here.But 'system' is not reason/understanding if it's simply a formula with variables to plug into.
Couldn't this simply be seen as a rational enhancement of a valid system pursuant to an appreciation of that system's scope and intent?...
But if we follow a general principle approach, we would adapt, would input our own knowledge of main roads and short cuts to get to our destination.
I'd agree that sometimes when additional layers of complexity evolve, the inner workings can become more deeply obscured.---
I think the problem with investing still being debated is because it's been transformed into some secondary and tertiary entity, and the focus is on understanding the new set of entities rather than the original form - yet studying the new form but thinking all form are the one and the same.
...
That may well be true of some people, but I sincerely doubt it could be true of all people....
Anyhoo... Unless a person's job depends on believing in something, they won't believe or open to ideas they do not already currently follow.
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