# john templeton ## guiding principles * beware of emotions - most people get led astray by emotion in investing by being careless and optimistic when they have big profits and excessively pessimistic and too cautious when taking big losses * beware of your own ignorance - bigger problem that emotions as many people buy something with the tiniest amount of information and don't understand what they're buying * diversify broadly to protect yourself from your own fallibility * be patient * the best way to find bargains is to study whichever assets have performed most dismally in the past five years, then to assess whether the cause of those woes is temporary or permanent * don't chase fads --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://um.fz.ax/investing/john-templeton.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.