Stanley Druckenmiller knew how to make a place for himself in the demanding world of investments, becoming a world-renowned philanthropist and hedge fund manager. An interesting anecdote is that he was president of Duquesne Capital until 2010, when he decided to close it because he did not have the capacity to provide high returns to his clients.
If you want to know the life philosophy of this American businessman, this selection of the best quotes from Stanley Druckenmiller you will be interested.
This investor not only leaves us valuable lessons about investing, but also about not being afraid to make the decision to withdraw if we know that there is no way to continue. Therefore, we bring this compilation with the best phrases and thoughts of Stanley Druckenmiller.
1. Earnings don’t move the overall market; It’s the Federal Reserve Board…
The US Federal Reserve is the one that mainly manages the country’s economy.
2. The Fed instead of trying to get the economy moving, goes back to acting like the central bankers they are and starts worrying about inflation and things getting too hot.
A criticism of the actions of the Federal Reserve, when something goes out of its control.
3. I don’t really like the coverage. To me, if something needs to be covered, you shouldn’t have a position on it.
About the businesses you prefer to avoid.
4. The way to create deflation is to create an asset bubble.
Assets are the true objective of investments.
5. A well-researched machine can make many average investors redundant, leaving behind only the really good human investors with exceptional intuition and skill.
Will machines replace some people’s jobs in the future?
6. I’ve always liked to gamble, and face it: investing is a great game.
The way Druckenmiller sees the world of investing.
7. Soros is the best loss taker I have ever seen. He doesn’t care if he wins or loses in a trade.
Complimenting his first and most important teacher.
8. If you’re early in your career and given the choice between a great mentor or a higher salary, choose the mentor every time.
Having a lot of money does not mean knowing how to handle it, but continuing to learn will lead you to be better every day.
9. The first thing I heard when I got into the business, not from my mentor, was that bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered. I’m here to tell you he was a pig.
One of the most valuable lessons from his mentor and the position he decided to take.
10. I have thought many things when I handle money with great, great conviction, and many times I am wrong.
For Stanley, making mistakes is the main step to becoming successful, because that is where we learn to improve.
11. If you really see it, put all your eggs in one basket and look at it very carefully.
Bet all or nothing, but with a lot of study before doing so.
12. He taught me that you have to visualize the situation in 18 months, and whatever it is, that’s where the price will be, not where it is today.
About future profits that his mentor Soros taught him.
13. I think diversification and all the things they are teaching in business school today is probably the most misguided concept anywhere.
Schools need to start teaching about finances in a way that everyone can learn.
14. The key to money management. It’s making a lot of money when you’re right and minimizing it when you’re wrong.
Money management depends on our personal situation.
15. When you don’t have money for so long, the marginal benefits you get through consumption decrease considerably, but there is one thing that doesn’t decrease, and that is the unintended consequences.
That is why we must be careful about spending more when we cannot recover money.
16. Thirty years is enough.
Talking about his time in the world of finance.
17. There are many shoes on the shelf; wear only those that fit you.
A metaphor to explain to us that we should not try to take everything, but focus on only one thing that is worthwhile.
18. This is how I started. I watched the stock market, how stocks reacted to changes in economic activity levels, and was able to understand how price signals worked and how to forecast them.
Observe, study and put into practice.
19. You simply can’t have two cooks in the kitchen; it does not work.
It is better to put all our attention on one thing than to lose everything due to greed.
20. But what is more disciplined than a machine?
All machines respond to human commands.
21. I focused my analysis on trying to identify the factors that were strongly correlated with a stock’s price movement rather than looking at all the fundamentals.
A reference to what you decided to focus on in your study of investments.
22. The way to generate superior long-term returns is through capital preservation and home runs.
Know how to save and take advantage of the moments that look most promising.
23. Working for Soros cemented Druckenmiller’s “if you see it, you have to do it” investment philosophy.
A philosophy that lasted with Druckenmiller forever, if it’s good, take it.
24. Every time I see a stock market explode, 6 to 12 months later you are in full recovery.
It is very difficult for the stock market to fall to a point of no return.
25. There is simply nothing to me as invaluable in my business, but in many businesses, as great mentors.
Placing education above any resource.
26. Everyone lives with their rulers in the past and does not look at the changes that are coming.
A reference to the desire to cling to the past instead of building our progress towards the future.
27. Once you make a lot of money, it’s incredibly fun to give it away. It is a way to satisfy the soul.
You should never lose humility, even when you are at the top.
28. What a company has been earning means nothing. What you have to look at is what people think they are going to win.
Business represents a firm and sometimes blind confidence in a bright future.
29. I gave myself a Tesla for my 60th birthday.
Don’t stop doing things for yourself and celebrating your achievements.
30. I love Amazon.
Showing his fascination with Jeff Bezos’ company.
31. I believe that good investors are successful not because of their IQ, but because they have investment discipline.
More than knowing everything, it’s about being consistent and knowing what steps to take.
32. The few times Soros has ever criticized me was when I was actually right in a market and didn’t maximize the opportunity.
Taking a risk on a good offer, that is the lesson that became his way of life.
33. If you sleep with dogs, you wake up with fleas.
Assume the consequences of your actions, you cannot escape from it forever.
34. With my business, the way to make a lot of money is to find a great management team and a good concept, and you stick with it and add to it over time.
It takes trustworthy and patient people to build something great.
35. Very often the key factor is related to profits.
The ‘secret’ behind the success of every business is what allows it to make its profits.
36. Every great money manager I’ve ever met, all they want to talk about is their mistakes. There is great humility there.
Errors are constant and common within investments.
37. I don’t like selling great products. That’s not my deal.
Another business that you prefer to avoid.
38. I learned that you could be right in a market and still end up losing if you use excessive leverage.
Therefore, it is not only worth knowing everything about investments, but also knowing how to read the movement.
39. Good debt growth is when you borrow money and it goes into the real economy. You make capital expenditures. You build businesses.
The best way to invest money.
40. In general, I do not believe that robots and greater automation can create a utopian world as I imagined as a child 50 years ago.
Firmly believing that robots will not take over the future.
41. If machines do everything right, including efficient allocation of capital and resources, can that be deflationary, can that eliminate poverty? I don’t know.
The fact that machines can do everything well does not mean that it is the best option for the development of the world.
42. I don’t put Tesla in the Amazon category. They have not proven to me that, as a financial model and economic model, it will work.
Comparing Tesla’s growth against Amazon.
43. Old people like Hillary Clinton and I shouldn’t try to be cool on social media.
Completely detached from the use of social networks.
44. In my opinion, George Soros is the greatest investor who ever lived.
Not only an excellent mentor, but a role model in investing.
45. I love being around children. I couldn’t understand why all these 70 year old people wanted to hang out with me when I was 27. Now I understand, and I’m trying to steal their energy like they stole me back then.
Even young people teach us new things that are valuable for our lives.
46. It’s hard to be very optimistic if you look at how humans have behaved historically.
Unfortunately, our worst enemy is ourselves.
47. In my experience, the more successful an idea is, the easier it is to finance it. In philanthropy, it’s almost harder.
You should never underestimate the potential of an attractive idea.
48. If you are running a business for the long term, the last thing you should do is borrow money to buy back shares.
A mistake from which many businesses never recover.
49. Don’t even think about leaving that mentor until your learning curve peaks.
Stay with your teachers as long as you can and need.
50. Most people in the market are looking for profits and conventional measures. It is liquidity that moves the markets.
You should not pursue large immediate profits, but rather the liquidity that this business offers.
51. I think Bezos is amazing.
Showing admiration for Jeff Bezos’ achievements.
52. If you can see that something in two years is going to be completely different from conventional wisdom, that’s how you make money.
Betting on those new things.
53. You can be much more aggressive when you get good profits.
The more you achieve, the more you can risk.
54. Bitcoin is like anything else: it’s worth what people are willing to pay for it.
Talking about the value of Bitcoin.
55. If you are very confident, taking a loss doesn’t bother you.
To fully enter this world, you have to know how to accept losses and overcome them, because they are inevitable.
56. Every serious deflation I have observed is preceded by an asset bubble and then bursts.
Everything that rises, sooner or later falls.
57. The important thing is not whether you are right or wrong, but how much money you make when you are right and how much you lose when you are wrong.
His way of not focusing on the problem, but on finding a solution with what he has.
58. When you have tremendous conviction in a trade, you have to go for the jugular. It takes courage to be a pig.
Many think that pigs are the weakest, but when they know the necessary tricks, they become the most cunning.
59. Even today, many analysts still don’t know what makes their particular stocks go up and down.
There is no single explanation for this, so you should not worry excessively about these changes.
60. I’m going to be a millionaire one day.
A goal that began as a dream and today is its reality.
61. For 30 years I have been responsible for managing clients’ money and it has been a pleasure, but at some point I need to move on.
Success is moving forward even when we think we have achieved everything.
62. If I were the ‘Darth Vader’ of the financial world and decided I was going to do this nasty thing and create deflation, I would do exactly what central banks are doing now.
A criticism of the way of action of the directors of the central banks of the United States.
63. The mistake I would say 98 percent of money managers and people make is that they feel like they have to be messing around with a lot of things.
Another phrase that reminds us that we should not have more things than we can handle.
64. Never, ever invest in the present.
In investments what counts is the future.
65. When you’re betting the ranch and circumstances change, you have to change, and that’s how I’ve always handled money.
When we refuse change, we close a door to growth.
66. I firmly believe that the only way to achieve superior long-term returns in our business is to be a pig.
Not being ambitious, but learning to wait and be constant.
67. Part of my advantage is that my strength is economic forecasting, but that only works in free markets, when markets are smarter than people.
About his strength that has given him an advantage in business.
68. If one trade doesn’t work out, you are confident enough in your ability to win on other trades that you can easily walk away from the position.
Another of the valuable lessons that Soros left for him.
69. You have to be decisive, open-minded, flexible and competitive.
This is a world of risk, but above all of creativity and constant growth.
70. Focus on central banks and focus on the movement of liquidity.
Banks are Stanley’s main investment target.
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