 Guys I'd love to welcome everybody back to the independent investor channel for just a quick 10 minute message on the evolution of the channel and what I've came to understand about paying forward good information, good sound investing techniques that have been proven to work in the investment arena and unfortunately social media it creates an environment where a lot of people have to deviate from those tried and true fundamentals of investing and it puts so many people on the path to speculation rather than investment and in this video I really want to draw a distinction between why I've taken some of the initiatives on the channel that I have understanding why really at the sacrifice a lot of the channel's success in telling people what they want to hear as opposed to what they should hear in respect to protecting what I feel is sacred in investing and to drive at the notion of why so many retail investors fail so miserably at investing you guys have noticed on the independent investor channel that I do don't put out the stocks to buy every month it's something that I used to do they were very popular videos through youtube and I came to the realization that it was probably doing more harm to people than good in other words the sheer fact of entering into the stock market in the capacity that I feel like most people should enter into was being really ignored by that type of dialogue and that type of message that came across the channel and it's codified in what I feel is the best investing book out there and I do want to take this opportunity to involve in and introduce you to the intelligent investor if you've never heard of this it is the greatest investing book out there bore none this one actually has a forward from John Bogle which is fantastic it speaks to the importance of indexing your money as well as endorsed by another investor that we all know and love if you don't understand or know who Warren Buffett is I'd highly introduce you to study up on the the oracle of Omaha and how important his endorsement of the intelligent investor written by Benjamin Graham back in 1949 is really helps us understand what was applicable back in the 20s and 30s and 40s for investors and whether or not some of those same tried and true fundamentals are applicable today and a lot of people would suggest that they are not and that we have to somehow approach financial markets as if it's a war and as if it's something that you have to read and study up on and be the top and cutting edge of application to succeed in and it that's just not the truth it's just not the truth and again this digression of the channel has been more to align with the teachings of Benjamin Graham and understanding the difference between true investing and investing in companies through the stock as opposed to investing in the stock itself based on day-to-day fluctuations the ability of investors to understand when a good buy point is in other words when that value point is and more importantly giving that understanding that investors have a very hard time understanding where their exit might be so although you might get involved in a growth story that could be prolonged over many many years and it may give you that psychological validation to understand that you are a great investor that actually is speculation because you fail to identify with the sheer reality of being placed in that investment way too long and the the reality is stocks go through ads and flows individual stocks they go through very very good times and they go through very very bad times it seems like there are certain equities out there that are always good and never ever will be some succumb to a downturn if the stock market has proved us anything it is that companies go through phases in its evolution of potentially growth to value and then potentially rolling off and becoming value stocks that fail fail to even innovate and and even dare I say go away over time and you might say Ryan what is what is it that we do I want to invest in single stock and it's something that I do on the channel it's something that I share through the channel but I do so with realistic expectations over that discipline and I do separate it from the sheer fact that the majority of my wealth is pledged to the financial markets in the way that Benjamin Graham would suggest that an investor needs to pledge their dollars and it's not an admittance to not knowing what you need to know to beat the stock market it's just a sheer acknowledgement that beating the stock market in and of itself is a futile activity it just has no place in anybody's repertoire the experts or the beginning investors because across that spectrum both parties fail to meet the index and the performance of those indexes year over year so it begs the question and you sit back and you are you suggesting that investing could be actually easier than what one would presume by watching certain youtubers out there and as persuasive as they can be to suggest that they have all of the answers and that they can outperform the stock market especially in a bull market right a lot of those very talking heads on social media are understanding right now the futile efforts of their ways and the errors of those ways and unfortunately investors are finding out the same and people don't want to admit to the errors of their ways and especially investors who have followed those individuals with the sheer hope of duplicating some level of perceived success on youtube as being a mistake on their own behalf people just don't want to admit to it that's why when people have losses they don't admit to them they'll quietly disappear into oblivion and you'll never hear from them again only to be supplemented by a new flock of individuals following social media influencers and trying to find that next best thing that is going to accelerate their path to retire at 25 years old and i'm gonna i'm here to tell you that a lot of those efforts as it applies to the masses are futile in nature so the important part for yourself and understanding in this 10 minute deliberation is to introduce you to the teachings of the intelligent investor if you want to do yourself the best favor get yourself this book right here it's written by benjamin graham a hardback copy like this which is what i opted for off of amazon will cost about 25 there is four versions of this book actually with new writings this one is the version that actually has the forward by john bogel which is of interest to me it's about six pages at the beginning kind of paying homage to the great one and understanding his impact on investors what i find interesting is that so many retail investors will fail because they fail to adhere to the principles that benjamin graham has talked about with regard to defining themselves and as an investor and it's easier than you might think it really the pursuance of dollar cost averaging the markets and indexing your money over a diversified portfolio and tax protecting your money really are the three tried and true fundamentals that any investor no matter what your talent level is if that even exists in investing it can help you really get over the ego portion of understanding that you don't have to beat financial markets all you have to do is meet or achieve the benchmarks annual rate of return from year over year and what that's going to do is it's going to give you predictable performance year over year over the long term and it's going to more importantly protect you to the downside that in essence my friends is the definition of an investor and it is more attainable than the general retail audience would have you believe because the sheer nature of selling you propaganda to understand that what you don't understand is something that you need to seek out and and understand and there's plenty of people out there guys that will sell you on that idea that you actually have to purchase that knowledge to obtain great wealth in the stock market and I'm here to tell you it comes down to a sheer difference between understanding your place as an investor as opposed to a speculator and financial markets guys if you've enjoyed this fundamental introduction to investing comparing an investor to a speculator you want to make sure and subscribe to the channel it is amongst many topics that I pushed through on the independent investor channel share your comments at the bottom of the video and share the message with anybody out there that is looking to get involved in financial markets don't take it from me turn them on to the book intelligent investor this can be the best twenty five dollar investment that you ever make before you ever ever hit the buy button on an equity or an index fund or an ETF or any type of investment into your future before you understand the sheer definition between an investor and a speculator in financial markets guys thank you so much for tuning in to the message and good luck in your investment future