17 Best John Templeton Quotes on Investing
Investopaper
John Templeton is “arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century” as referred by the Money Magazine in 1999. He is the legendary investor as well as a successful mutual fund manager.
Born in 1912, he was a contrarian investor i.e. he always operated in opposite to the market psychology. As the World War 2 began, he purchased stocks of 104 companies trading below one dollar a share. Out of these, 34 companies went bankrupt while he made hefty profits in other companies. In 1954, he started ‘Templeton Growth Fund’ which he sold in 1992 to the Franklin Group. His success in managing this fund can be illustrated by this: The 10,000 dollars invested in Templeton Growth Fund in 1954 would turn to 2 million dollars by 1992 (if dividends were reinvested).
John Templeton was the pioneer global investor with huge success in investing in Japanese stocks in early 1960s. He is among few investors who diversified his investment outside US and focused on emerging nations.
Here are some of the best quotes by the legendary John Templeton. These quotes clearly reflect his contrarian strategy in investment.
Best John Templeton Quotes
1. “Bull markets are born on pessimism, grown on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria. The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.”
2. “Outperforming the majority of investors requires doing what they are not doing. Buying when others have despaired, and selling when they are full of hope, takes fortitude.”
3. “The big difference between those who are successful and those who are not is that successful people learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others.”
4. “Those who spend too much will eventually be owned by those who are thrifty.”
5. “If you want to become really wealthy, you must have your money work for you.”
6. “Sell a stock only when you have found a new stock that is a 50% better bargain than the one that you hold.”
7. “Never forget: the secret of creating riches for oneself is to create them for others.”
8. “Focus on value because most investors focus on outlooks and trends.”
9. “Chances are if you buy what everyone is buying you will do so only after it is already overpriced.”
10. “For all long-term investors, there is only one objective: maximum total real return after taxes.”
11. “To buy when others are despondently selling and sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward.”
12. “The stock market is not a casino, but if you move in and out of stocks every time they move a point or two, or if you continually sell short or deal only in option or trade in future, the market will be your casino. And, like most gamblers, you may lose eventually—or frequently.”
13. “The only reason to sell a stock now is to buy other, more attractive stocks. If you can’t find more attractive stocks, hold on to what you have.”
14. “Buy stocks for less than they are worth and hold them as long as it takes for the market to appreciate how undervalued they are.”
15. “If you want to have a better performance than the crowd, you must do things differently from the crowd.”
16. “If you buy all the stocks selling at or below two times earnings, you will lose money on half of them because instead of making profits they will actually lose money, but you will only lose a dollar or so a share at most. Then others will be mediocre performers. But the remaining big winners will go up and produce fabulous results and also ensure a good overall result.”
17. “There’s only one reason a share goes to a bargain price: Because other people are selling. There is no other reason. To get a bargain price, you’ve got to look for where the public is most frightened and pessimistic.”
