Source : Franklin Templeton Investments # 1. Invest for Real Returns > The true objective for any long-term investor is maximum total real return after taxes. # 2. Keep an Open Mind > Never adopt permanently any type of asset or any selection method. Try to stay flexible, open minded and sceptical. Long- term top results are achieved only by changing from popular to unpopular the types of securities you favour and your methods of selection. # 3. Never Follow the Crowd > If you buy the same securities as other people, you will have the same results as other people. It is impossible to produce a superior performance unless you do something different from the majority. > > To buy when others are despondently selling and to sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward. # 4. Everything Changes > Bear markets have always been temporary. And so have bull markets. > > Share prices usually turn upward from one to twelve months before the bottom of the business cycle and vice versa. If a particular industry or type of security becomes popular with investors, that popularity will always prove temporary and, when lost, may not return for many years. # 5. Avoid the Popular > When any method for selecting stocks becomes popular, then switch to unpopular methods. > > Too many investors can spoil any share selection method or any market timing formula. # 6. Learn from your Mistakes > “This time is different” > > are among the most costly four words in market history. # 7. Buy During Times of Pessimism > Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on scepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria. > > The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell. # 8. Hunt for Value and Bargains > Too many investors focus on outlook and trend. Therefore, more profit is made by focusing on value. > > In the stock market the only way to get a bargain is to buy what most investors are selling. # 9. Search Worldwide > To avoid having all your eggs in the wrong basket at the wrong time, every investor should diversify. > > If you search worldwide, you will find more bargains and better bargains than by studying only one nation. You also gain the safety of diversification. # 10. No-one Knows Everything > An investor who has all the answers doesn't even understand the questions.