The Safest Way to Beat the Market

As kids we have all seen, if not participated, in a marble and spoon race.

The race barely grabs eyeballs. In fact, it often attracts the weakest of the sport aspirants. And for good reason.

It's slow and boring. It doesn't seem to require any special skill. The participants don't need the best level of fitness.

So, what makes the race entertaining? The fact that barely one or two participants manage to finish the race. The rest get dismissed as soon as the marble on their spoon rolls off.

As naive as it may sound, stock markets are no different.

You must first finish to finish first!

At the risk of sounding simplistic, this is the very nature of stocks that create the biggest wealth.

Unfortunately, most investors who enthusiastically start out in the stock market, get dismissed too soon.

A few manage to go some way but their stocks keep failing in terms of wealth creation. They roll off like the uneven marbles.

Only a handful of investors manage to get to the finish line. These investors see their stocks compound and create massive wealth.

In the marble and spoon race, most participants underestimate the importance of posture, concentration, and goal setting. As a result, barely anyone reaches the finish line. The usual traits of speed, strength, and agility do not serve well here.

The biggest wealth creators in the stock market are businesses that have thrived for decades. They are today just 1% of all listed business. Investing in them requires the skill that does not apply to 99% of the other listed stocks.

In fact, you can call it a hack.

Any marble and spoon expert, like yours truly, would tell you the hack for the race is simple. Place the marble carefully at the centre of the spoon and keeping your eyes glued to the marble and the finish line.

Similarly, 90% of the effort of wealth creation in stocks, is zeroing on the right businesses and holding them for many years.

Paying any attention to the chaos around or turning to see other participants can be the biggest risk in the marble and spoon race. Similarly, too much focus on other investors or the volatility in the market, is not the recipe to build a stock market fortune.

Now, if you are worried of an impending market crash hurting your dream of creating a stock market fortune, you aren't alone.

What if I tell you there's a secret strategy that is not only perfectly positioned to survive a market crash but also stands to gain immensely from a market crash?

Warm regards,


Tanushree Banerjee
Editor, StockSelect
Equitymaster Agora Research Private Limited (Research Analyst)