What’s the most important consideration for investing?

Howard Marks wrote a book titled “The Most Important Thing,” and I think it had 20 lessons.

So it’s hard to distill into one – but it’s really a judgment business at the end of the day. You want to find the best business you can at the cheapest price you can. You can have a wonderful business at a high price resulting in a terrible investment, and conversely you can have a terrible business at a wonderful price yielding a terrific investment.

Charlie Munger compares it to the pari-mutuel system on betting on horses. Everyone may know who the best horse is, but if it’s more than reflected in the odds, then it won’t pay off. You want to find the great horse that no one else thinks is a great horse.