Listen to this EXCLUSIVE & RARE interview from 2015. Francis Chou (founder, Chou Associates) is Canada’s VALUE INVESTOR! An actual early investor (and past colleague) with Francis Chou, a former Bell repairmen, saw his $80,000 grow to $5 million and at the age of 80, will be worth close to $60 million if compounding returns stay consistent. Now, Chou, the deep-value portfolio manager who likes to pay 50 cents on the dollar runs over $1 billion for his loyal investors.
Francis Chou’s Value Investing Lessons:
Relating shopping in India to investing: “It was my job to make sure I was paying the lowest price for the best”
“When you read about great men and women of the past, it is like having a conversation about world affairs in your living It is not only educational but it builds perspective about life and business in general.”
“My first job is to check whether the company in question meets my investment criteria. It could be a good company, a bad company, or it could be a CRAP [cannot realize a profit].”
“I do screens, read a lot, and talk to other talented portfolio managers to see where they are seeing bargains. . . . [And] before you make a purchase, you should look for investors who are negative.”
“Whenever the majority of investors are purchasing securities at prices that implicitly assume that everything is perfect with the world, an economic dislocation or other shock always seems to appear out of the blue. And when that happens, investors learn, once again, that they ignore risk at their own peril”
“We continue to diligently look for undervalued stocks and will buy them only when they meet our price criteria — in other words, when they are priced for imperfection.”
“I’m trying to buy 80 cents for 40 cents. It does not matter whether they are good companies, bad companies, or distressed”
“You’re a businessman . . . you ask, ‘If I were to buy this company, how much would I pay?’”
“Sustainable earning power, business moats, and competitive advantage relate more closely to intrinsic value and therefore are more important than just increases in book value”
Robin R. Speziale 
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