Education of a Value Investor - Guy Spier

[Liberty]

[amazonsearch]Education of a Value Investor[/amazonsearch]

 

It's not out yet, but you can pre-order it.

 

As Sanjeev pointed out, it was mentioned in this WSJ piece:

 

http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303749904579580173018598720-lMyQjAxMTA0MDIwMzEyNDMyWj

 

Worried that knowing the prices of his holdings would make him want to trade them, he checks their market values once a week at most and leaves his firm's only data terminal switched off for weeks at a time. Mr. Spier avoids speaking to brokers; he puts in his trading orders by email, after market hours, so no broker can try swaying his judgment.

 

Nor does Mr. Spier publicly discuss the holdings in his portfolio—even in his letters to his own investors, where he writes instead about the lessons he has learned from the positions he has sold. He is afraid that talking about a stock will make it harder for him to be objective about it.

 

Mr. Spier has divided his office into two spaces—a "busy room," with his phone and computer, and the "library," a quiet area down the hall where no one, including Mr. Spier, enters with an electronic device. He likes to spend much of the day there, reading and thinking.

 

When researching a company, Mr. Spier has a strict routine. First he reads its official financial filings—annual and quarterly reports, proxy statements and so on. Next he reads news releases and conference-call transcripts. Only then will he allow himself a peek at online commentary, news coverage or Wall Street research. That way, his first impressions come from primary sources.

[manualofideas]

Just for reference, there were already some replies in the existing thread on Guy's book:

 

 

http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/books/the-education-of-a-value-investor-by-guy-spier/

[Ham Hockers]

Nor does Mr. Spier publicly discuss the holdings in his portfolio—even in his letters to his own investors, where he writes instead about the lessons he has learned from the positions he has sold. He is afraid that talking about a stock will make it harder for him to be objective about it.

 

I like Guy, but I wonder how much of this is because he's afraid of being challenged

[CorpRaider]

Finally finished this one.  I really enjoyed it.  It was something different and was a delightful read.  I'm really looking forward to "pulling the thread" of the list of books in his library at the end as well.  Thanks to Guy and William Green for writing the book.