PART ONE
Become a
Smart Investor:
Change Your
Investment
Life Forever
Chapter 1
An Unbelievable
Chimp Story
The investor's chief problem-and even his worst enemy-
is likely to be himself
-Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor
There is a chimpanzee in a remote region of Sierra Leone that
routinely performs open-heart surgery. His success rate is
higher-and his mortality rate lower-than many of the finest
heart surgeons in the world.
Okay, I made that up.
But, if you read that report in the newspaper, you would
think that either
1. that chimp is really extraordinary; or
2. those heart surgeons are not very good.
If the story were true, and you needed a heart operation,
you might seek out the chimp and avoid the heart surgeons.
The Financial Times of London annually runs a contest,
pitting a neophyte investor against market analysts. In 2002,