📖John Templeton

Look for Ten-Dollar Bills at Five Dollars

🌱 Beginner★★★★★

Buy stocks selling well below their true value. Without process, there is no reliable feedback loop. Structured execution and review improve decision quality over time. Run a decision loop of research, thesis, execution, and post-mortem; document assumptions and update playbooks with evidence, not hindsight bias. John Templeton advocates a repeatable process: define criteria, execute consistently, and review decisions against evidence. Process quality drives outcome consistency. Key insight: Finding deep value is like getting dollars at a discount. A process is like a pilot checklist: discipline prevents simple mistakes when pressure rises and keeps outcomes more repeatable.

Avoid misuse: Having opinions without execution criteria

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My approach has always been to look for companies whose stock is selling for less than its true worth. Like finding ten-dollar bills selling for five dollars.

— Templeton's Way with Money，2012

🏠 Everyday Analogy

A process is like a pilot checklist: discipline prevents simple mistakes when pressure rises and keeps outcomes more repeatable.

📖 Core Interpretation

John Templeton advocates a repeatable process: define criteria, execute consistently, and review decisions against evidence. Process quality drives outcome consistency.
💎 Key Insight：Finding deep value is like getting dollars at a discount.

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❓ Why It Matters

Without process, there is no reliable feedback loop. Structured execution and review improve decision quality over time.

🎯 How to Practice

Run a decision loop of research, thesis, execution, and post-mortem; document assumptions and update playbooks with evidence, not hindsight bias.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

✕Having opinions without execution criteria
✕Reviewing outcomes but not decisions
✕Abandoning rules during volatility spikes

📚 Case Studies

1
Staying Invested Through Japan’s Bubble Peak (1990)
Templeton had gradually reduced Japanese exposure before the 1989 peak but maintained select, undervalued global holdings through the subsequent volatility of the early 1990s.
✨ Outcome：Disciplined patience and focus on global bargains helped his funds outperform over the following decade.
2
Buying at Outbreak of WWII (1939)
Templeton borrowed money to buy 100 shares each of 104 depressed U.S. stocks under $1 as war began in Europe, based on research that pessimism was extreme and many firms were still fundamentally viable.
✨ Outcome：Within a few years most positions recovered or prospered, turning a small, risky purchase basket into a strong multi‑bagger and forming the basis of his contrarian, research‑driven reputation.

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