How does 'The Intelligent Investor' suggest dealing with market fluctuations and their impact on investment decisions?

The Intelligent Investor suggests dealing with market fluctuations by adopting the allegory of Mr. Market. This concept encourages investors not to rely on the market to understand the underlying value of their shareholding. Instead, they should take advantage of the market's irrational behavior. When the market quotes exuberantly high values, it's a good time to sell, and when it quotes absurdly low ones, it's an opportunity to buy. This approach helps to reduce risk, protect capital from loss, and generate sustainable returns over the long run.

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Graham gives the allegory of Mr. Market to illustrate the investor's ideal attitude to the stock market. Imagine you paid $1000 to buy a small share in a private business. One of the partners, Mr. Market, tells you every day what your share is worth and offers to buy or sell additional interest in the business. Unlike a private buyer, Mr. Market often quotes exuberantly high values or absurdly low ones. Given this situation, there is no way a sensible investor will rely on Mr. Market to understand the underlying value of their shareholding. However, they would be more than happy to buy from Mr. Market when he quotes meager rates and sell to Mr. Market when he quotes relatively high rates.

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The Intelligent Investor

This book will not teach you how to beat the market. However, it will teach you how to reduce risk, protect your capital from loss and reliably genera...

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