10 lessons learned in 2017

1. Never buy a stock on the speculation that something could happen (merger, acquisition or whatever);
2. Best performing stocks are stocks that are making money and which are growing their earnings year after year… but, the most important point is that the free cash flows are growing year after year;
3. Chuck Akre deserves your admiration;
4. Sequoia Fund and Giverny Capital are very good too, but a little less than Akre. Forget the rest;
5. A high PE ratio relative to the market may not be a high PE ratio when you compare it to histoical levels for a high-quality business;
6. You should buy these “always high PE ratio stocks” when they’re selling for a lower price;
7. A very large cap may offer great returns and grow much more than 95% of the other stocks (for instance: Google, Facebook)
8. A nano or micro cap is almost ALWAYS a bad investment. They suck and the people who are talking about them suck too;
9. Many stocks don’t retain their value. Healthcare stocks are often at risk of losing their value;
10. When you select your stocks with a lot of caution, among not too expensive (on an historical basis) growing free cash flow stocks, you can do well with at about 80% of your picks. Which is better than almost every investor.