Jumia Books The Warren Buffett Philosophy of Investment: How a Combination of Value Investing and Smart Acquisitions Drives Extraordinary Success Book by Elena Chirkova

Roger Babson was at the New York stock exchange on March 14, 1907, at the request of a friend. The market had started a drop from a high of 111 on March 6, 1907 on the way to a low point of 60. Much of the drop occurred on March 14. “On that day I actually saw men’s hair turn gray.” Roger wrote in his autobiography.

It motivated him to do a study of stock exchange transactions and what he referred to as foolish investments. He came to the conclusion that the cost to even thrifty investors was one and a half billion dollars a year at that time. At that point he made a life changing decision, to do something to prevent the losses. It put him on the path, which resulted in the founding of Babson Business Statistics, Babson Business College and the Gravity Research Foundation.

He published his analysis of stocks and bonds in newsletters and sold subscriptions to interested banks and investors. In 1904, with an initial investment of $1,200, Roger and Grace Babson founded Babson’s Statistical Organization, later evolved into Business Statistics Organization and then Babson’s Reports, until eventually it thrived as Babson-United Investment Reports. Probably due to the Internet and free stock data, it closed its doors in 2001.

Babson, in his autobiography titled the last chapter “How $2,000 can become $831,543 without borrowing a penny”. As the reader will later in this article, there are powerful techniques that he developed that are useful for a technical trader to achieve and surpass such a goal. Roger read several books and kept Brenner’s Prophecies of future ups and downs in prices as one of his prize possessions. He found that a particular quote from the book was important to remember.