When it comes to finding the right investments for your portfolio, there are a few steps you should take in order to make sure you’re making the best decision.These steps include understanding the business you’re interested in adding to your portfolio, finding a rational, trusted partner to bounce ideas off of, and completing each level of the 3-step investing research pyramid.This week, Phil and Danielle Town break down all points of research you should consider and explain the 3-step investing research pyramid, which includes Charlie Munger’s 4-Step Investing Checklist, Bill Ackman’s 8 Principles to Successful Investing, and the Rule #1 Investing Checklist.To help you complete your investing research pyramid in the most effective way possible, download the must-have investing checklist for FREE here: https://bit.ly/303Fs2U Topics discussed in this podcast: Investing Research Investing Checklist Charlie Munger Bill Ackman How to invest Investing for Beginners The First Step to Successful Investing Additional resources discussed in this podcast: Charlie Munger’s 4 Point Checklist Bill Ackman’s 8 Point Checklist Rule #1 Investing Checklist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to investing you should never go faster or do more than what you’re ready for. If you do, you’re going to crash.Phil and Danielle discuss the importance of taking small steps and being patient with your comfort in investing in order to see success.Taking your ego and hubris out of your investing process is going to be critical to success. While you may be excited and sometimes feel like you’re ready to take a big step when it comes to your portfolio, always be sure to take a step back and re-assess if you’re actually ready to take that step. To help you take that critical step back and fully understand where you’re putting your money, use Phil’s must-have investing checklist to guide you to success. Download it here:https://bit.ly/303Fs2U Topics discussed in this podcast: How to Invest Safely Investing Mistakes When to Invest Investing Preparedness Value Investing For show notes and more information visit www.investedpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Debt matters. So how do you find the value of a company you want to invest in if they’re carrying around debt?Stemming from a conversation about the role of debt in Liberty Media Corporation’s purchase of Formula One Racing from last week’s episode, Phil and Danielle dive deep into a conversation about how to use the 10 cap formula to accurately find the true valuation of the company you’re investing in, even when they’re carrying around debt, to ensure you’re making the right investment decision.Phil and Danielle also discuss the level of unpredictability of investing you should almost always expect, using the history and future of Tesla as an example.Discover the 5 long-term advantages you should look for in your business investments in Phil’s free guide. Download it here: https://bit.ly/3nMiyEQ Topics discussed in this podcast: Value Investing How to factor debt into investment opportunities The 3 Fs of Shorting Unpredictability in Investing Resources discussed in this podcast: InvestED by Danielle and Phil Town Investing Lessons from Formula One | Podcast Episode #340 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So you invested in a business...but do you know who ACTUALLY owns that business? Do you know what the management is like and how that can drastically affect the success of your investment?For sports fans — especially racing fans — Formula One Racing (owned by Liberty Media Corporation) seems like an attractive stock to add to your portfolio, as it’s one of the few opportunities to invest in sports.As Phil returns from the United States Grand Prix, he and Danielle reflect on the sport growing in popularity and discuss when to give stock, like Formula 1, the green light to drive into your portfolio.Phil and Danielle dive deep into the first step of the investing checklist to explain what the history of Formula One can teach you about investing and the importance of understanding the business behind your investment...before you actually buy.Download the easy-to-use checklist discussed in the episode and learn how to find the best companies for your portfolio: https://bit.ly/3mivmDe Topics discussed in this podcast: Warren Buffett’s investing strategies Value investing Real-life investing Investing in Trusted Management Formula 1 Stock Resources discussed in this podcast: The Innovation Stack by Jim McKelvey Bill Ackman’s 8 Principles Phil’s Go-To Investing Checklist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Buying stocks is not something that should be taken lightly. Selecting which companies to buy can make or break you as an investor.Before you buy shares in a company, it is essential to thoroughly investigate that company’s mission, management, goals, outlook, and fundamentals.Think of it this way: you would never buy 100% of a company without thorough due diligence, and, likewise, you shouldn’t buy a small percentage of a company without doing the same.You can do your due diligence by using an investing checklist, so you can reduce your risk and maximize your profits over time.In this podcast, Phil and Danielle discuss investing using a checklist, and how it oftentimes relates to experiences in the real world. Download my easy-to-use checklist and learn how to apply the Four Ms of investing: https://bit.ly/305Cr1pTopics discussed in this podcast: Investing metaphors Real-life investing scenarios How to pick stocks The Four Ms of investing Company valuations Understanding companies  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rule #1 has been the basis of excellent investing for the last 80 years by successful investors like Warren Buffett, and it will be the basis of excellent investing 80 years from now. First, understand that Rule # 1 literally is “Don’t Lose Money,” but what it means in practical terms is to invest with certainty. Certainty comes from this: buying a wonderful business at an attractive price. The word “wonderful” actually encompasses three out of four elements in the Four Ms. This is a part of the must-have checklist before purchasing any stock.In this podcast, Phil and Danielle discuss why sticking to this checklist is critical for never losing money in investing. Learn more about the Four Ms with this guide: https://bit.ly/305Cr1pTopics discussed in this podcast: How to pick stocks The Four Ms of investing Company valuations Understanding companies  Recessions Market fluctuations   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Invert, always invert” — Charlie MungerIf you want to really be a great Rule #1 investor, you must have an investing strategy in place to help guide you. You must create a story for the company you want to invest in and determine why this is a great company. Once you have that story, invert it by flipping to the opposite point of view. You should try to create the argument that this investment isn’t the best idea, and if you can’t, then that is a sign that you don’t know enough about the company yet.So, as a part of your Four Ms checklist, one of the last steps is to invert. When you apply inversions to buying a business, there are four key reasons to look at:  You have a serious inversion for every key reason to own the business You know every reason not to buy a company, better than the short sellers For every inversion, you know a solid rebuttal that erases the inversion Short sellers are wrong! In this podcast, Phil & Danielle cover why it’s important to invert along with four key things to consider for your checklist inversions.Learn more about buying wonderful companies with the Four Ms Guide! Click here to get started: https://bit.ly/3uHlZ2TTopics discussed in this podcast: How to Create a Story Why You Should Always Invert How to Invert to Own a Business Four Key Points of Inversions Relating to Chipotle & Gamestop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re doing it right, investing in the stock market is much more than picking a few companies, buying a few shares, and hoping for the best.Smart investors are those that are disciplined and have an investing strategy in place to help guide them as they go along with their investment choices. And that includes having a checklist to help you make important investing decisions.Rule #1 investors like to use the Four Ms checklist.They tie into the strategy of, “Buying wonderful businesses at attractive prices” and are important to consider when investing your money for the long-term.“Wonderful” indicates that any business you invest in strongly meets the criteria of three of the Four Ms: Meaning: You understand the business enough to want to own the whole thing if you could, that you’d be proud to own it, and that it reflects your values. Moat: The business must meet certain criteria in terms of financial strength and predictability, creating a symbolic Moat to surround and protect it from competitors. Management: The business is led by skilled, experienced individuals that you respect. Margin of Safety: You are buying the business on sale relative to a known value (which I teach you to calculate easily). Rule #1 is straightforward, but you must be thorough. That’s why Phil created this Four Ms Checklist to help make sure you don’t miss a thing. In this podcast, Danielle covers a few of her checklist takeaways, and explains why it’s important to have your own checklist and stick to it to reduce your risk in the stock market.Learn more about buying stocks on sale with the Four Ms Guide! Click here to get started: https://bit.ly/3ocoMQgTopics discussed in this podcast: Stock market events How to find stocks on sale How to pick stocks Company valuations Understanding companies    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do stock market events cause stocks to go on sale?Let’s say that cotton prices start to go nuts because of the Arab Spring. Maybe they’re not going to harvest Egyptian cotton crops, so cotton prices go from $1 to $3. The guys who own companies that depend on cotton prices to be low look at the price and say, “Oh no. It’s going to take over a year before cotton prices come down, I need to get out of this company.” This happens even if there isn’t anything wrong with the company, it’s just going to have a bad year. That company could go from $45 to $15 simply because there are no big buyers. They all get out of the company on momentum. This is what causes stock market prices to change.So, how do Rule #1 Investors take advantage of stock market events?Rule #1 investors buy for the long term. They wait, and when they see something that’s on sale because the big guys have sold it off, it takes them just a few seconds to get in there and take advantage of these stock market events.In this episode of the InvestED podcast, Phil and Danielle discuss stock market events more in-depth, and how to take advantage of when stocks go on sale.Learn more about buying stocks on sale with the Four Ms Guide! Click here to get started: https://bit.ly/3hRUZs1Topics discussed in this podcast: Stock market events How to find stocks on sale Uncertainty in the market Warren Buffett Tesla Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The key to finding stocks on sale is to wait for a Rule #1 event.What’s a Rule #1 event? It is when something happens that affects the entire market and makes the stock price of a good company drop far below its real value. This could be a recession, a pandemic, an election — you name it. Remember, the stock price doesn’t reflect the actual value of the company. We know that the company’s price will bounce back in time, and because we take a long-term approach to investing in stocks, we aren’t worried. During an event, when others are panicking, we can take advantage of the downturn and buy wonderful companies at a tremendous discount.  This is why it’s so important to have your watchlist of wonderful companies ready to go. When you do, you can just sit back and wait for a Rule #1 event to temporarily lower the price of the stocks on your watchlist, and then BUY. When the company recovers from the event and returns to its previous price, your investment could double.In this episode of the InvestED podcast, Phil and Danielle discuss stock market events more in-depth, and how to take advantage of these opportunities as an investor.Learn more about buying stocks on sale with the Four Ms Guide! Click here to get started: https://bit.ly/3Ac9OglTopics discussed in this podcast: Stock market events How to find stocks on sale Uncertainty in the market Greed in the market Warren Buffett Mohnish Pabrai Valuation methods Chipotle stock recovery Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices