Finding Your Investing Lodestar: In Search Of An Investment Philosophy

Aswath Damodaran15.05K FollowersFollow5ShareSavePlay(34min)CommentsSummaryIf you don't have an investment philosophy, it is almost a given that you will find yourself drawn to whatever strategies worked best in the recent past.In market timing, your focus is less on individual stocks or assets and more on deciding whether a market (equities, bonds, real estate, etc.) is under- or overpriced.In an efficient market, market mistakes will be random, and since there is no systematic pattern to them, there is no pathway for active investors to find these mistakes, even with access to data and powerful tools. TanawatPontchour/iStock via Getty Images When uncertainty roils markets, as is the case right now, it is natural for investors to get knocked off balance, and when off balance, they make investment decisions that they often regret later. It is during those times that itThis article was written byAswath Damodaran15.05K FollowersFollowI teach corporate finance and valuation at the Stern School of Business at New York University. I am a teacher first, who also happens to love untangling the puzzles of corporate finance and valuation, and writing about my experiences. As a result, I happen to be at the intersection of three businesses, education, publishing and financial services, that are all big, inefficiently run and deserve to be disrupted. I may not have the power to change the status quo in any of these businesses, but I can stir the pot. Please note that the article that you are reading here was originally written on my blog and is republished in Seeking Alpha and other forums. Consequently, I neither track nor respond to comments here. I am sorry! ==Editors' Note: Seeking Alpha monitors Dr. Damodaran blog and posts relevant articles on his behalf.