Nigel Lawson’s Seven Rules for Investors from The Investor’s Anthology: The shrewd investor will want to look beyond the figures, just as the trained psychoanalyst looks beyond the patient’s words to discover truths deep in his subconscious. So we have investment rule number one: Avoid companies whose chairman’s photograph is published more than four times a year. The cult of a chairman’s personality rarely inspires confidence in the management of a company. Rule number two: Avoid companies that publish their balance sheet in front of their profit. Companies invariably put first the document of which they are least ashamed. Obviously a company that is prouder of its assets than its profits is one to be avoided. Rule number three: Invest in companies whose chairman is less than 5’8" tall. What you must look for is the Napoleon of industry – dynamic individuals who make up for lack of physical stature by making their companies grow instead. Rule number four: Assess the board on a poin...
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