Paying Too Much For High-Quality Stocks: The Chief Hazard To Investors

Paying Too Much For High-Quality Stocks: The Chief Hazard To Investors by Richard Rooney, Burgundy Blog

“The risk of paying too high a price for good-quality stocks – while a real one – is not the chief hazard confronting the average buyer of securities. Observation over many years has taught us that the chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of favorable business conditions.”

This quote, from Ben Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, is a pretty even-handed warning. He cautions investors about paying too much for high-quality stocks, BUT he also implies that within reason this is a venial as opposed to a mortal sin. The mortal sin would appear to be an...