2. 了解能力圈的邊界: 很多價值投資者都知道能力圈的重要性, 但重點卻放在自己知到甚麼, 而不是不知道甚麼, 比起能力圈本身, 投資者更應看重能力圈的邊界, Charlie Munger如此說: 「 了解你的的能力圈, 並留在裡面. 這個圈的大小不太重要, 然而, 了解其邊界尤關重要 (Know your circle of competence, and stick within it. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital).」另外他也說過: 「知道自己不知道甚麼比傑出更有用 (knowing what you don't know is more useful than being brilliant).」很多投資者 (包括我) 雖然知到能力圈外是危險, 但在市場瘋狂時就算沒有走去出, 也在邊緣食花生, 定力不夠就覺得自己的能力圈擴大了可衝出去, 可是在短時間由不熟悉變熟悉真的可行嗎?
Charlie Munger在2018 Yahoo Finance Influencer 訪問被問到是否認同Ted Weschler及Todd Combs (巴郡的投資經理人), 他回答沒有理會過他們做甚麼, 但要不是其中一位年輕的投資者引導他們, 也許巴郡不會買入Apple, 主持人再追問這是否代表巴郡改變了投資哲學? 因為你們被稱為價值投資者, 這 (不投資科技股) 是否不再是巴郡的核心原則, 定已經不重要? Charlie Munger沒有搬出甚麼方程式, 只回答: 「你必須記住在我們的思維方式中, 所有智慧型的投資都是價值投資, 因為為甚麼你會購買一些不值所支付價格的東西? 而誰不喜歡用低於價值的價格買東西? (You got to remember that in our way of thinking all intelligent investment is value investment, because why would you want to buy something which wasn't worth as much as you were paying for us. And who wouldn't like buying something for less than it's worth).」
這就是價值投資最困難的地方, Seth Klarman在2011年的訪問講: 「投資是經濟學和心理學的交集. 從經濟來看, 企業的估值不難. 從心理來看 - 以這個價格應該買多少, 應否等待更低的價格, 當世界看起來即將終結時你會怎麼做 - 這些事情更難 (Investing is the intersection of economics and psychology. The economics, the valuation of a business is not that hard. The psychology – how much do you buy at this price, do you wait for a lower price, what do you do when it looks like the world might end – Those things are harder).」
現在讓我們回歸到最初的問題「P/E還有用嗎?」 好了Calvin, 我真的想估值, 我真的想脫離對價格升跌的執著, 我想找尋企業的內在價值, 你告訴我為甚麼PE沒有用吧. 這樣的人真的極少, 就像Charlie Munger在股東大會上說: 「我們的方法是如此簡單有效, 很難想像為甚麼世界上這麼少人用.」但今次不是講如何估值, 對於PE為何沒有用這個問題, 巴菲特的答案比我的更好: 「諸如股息收益率, 市盈率或賬面價值, 甚至增長率之類的通用標準與估值無關, 除非它們能為企業現金流的數量和時間提供到線索 (Common yardsticks such as dividend yield, the ratio of price to earnings or to book value, and even growth rates have nothing to do with valuation except to the extent they provide clues to the amount and timing of cash flows into and from the business). 」
John Bogle係Vanguard創辦人, 一生力推低成本既指數基金, 2019年1月已經逝世 (已成死老). 呢條舊片係佢2001年在華盛頓DC既國家記者俱樂部 (National Press Club), 以「大跌之後: 股票市場和共同基金的下一步是甚麼?(After the fall: What's next for the stock market and the mutual fund industry?)」為題的一段節錄.
Apple Inc., once again proof the power of stock, Apple Inc, become a listed company since 1985, sold for ~$3.5 a share, up until the bubble of I.T. industry in 2000, the price shoot up to ~$28, some investors thought: hmmm, pretty good! I have been waiting for 15 years! i must sell it now! then he walk away with 800%+ grow
After the bubble has exploded, the price got beaten so badly back to ~$9, those who walked away must be so proud of their own "ingenious", yet after 8 years, the stock price shoot sky high up close to $200 in 2008 before the financial crisis, many were shocked, and some people decide to walk away and think 5,700% growth is too much for them to handle, they cannot ask for me and must stop being greedy.
During the financial crisis, it drops back to ~$85, another waves of walked away investors truly admired their own "ingenious", man, i just escaped a 60% drop!
Guess what? just 3 years, it came back and shoots up to ~$600! this hasn't changed even when the founder of the company Steve Jobs passed away, which give you close to 17,000% growth up-to-date, if you invest $1000 from the beginning, you now can walk away with $170,000, but if you really did, will you walk away now?
Now investment tool can offer what a good stock can offer.