Investment Academy

So you want to make your own investment decisions? That's excellent!

We believe in Benjamin Graham's style of investment [1]. Graham's definition of investment is this:

"An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and adequate return." [2]

The most important bit is the thorough analysis. It starts with an understanding of what you want to buy.

Example: Many people check out a dozen different supermarkets for the best offer for a flat panel TV. Some of these can give you all the details about all the latest models. Yet, some of these people buy stocks (or other financial instruments) without even trying to find out about the business of the companies. All it takes is a hype word in their name or a matching press release. At the end of the 1990s people bought stocks just because they had to do with "the internet".

Our objective is to provide you with the information you need to perform a thorough analysis.

Financial Instruments

To get started it is important to understand different financial instruments. These include

• Bonds
• Investment Funds
• Options
• Savings Accounts
• Shares

Basic Investment Principles

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[1] Benjamin Graham, with commentary by Jason Zweig: "The Intelligent Investor", Revised Edition, ISBN-13: 978-0-06-055566-5, ISBN-10: 0-06-055566-1
[2] dto, p 35