--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most of the time common stocks are…" description: "\"Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tenden..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg" --- # Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational… ![“Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed.” quote by Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg) > “Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed.” [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Common stocks often swing wildly due to speculation, hope, fear, and greed. **In simple terms:** Stocks fluctuate because of speculation and emotions. Key Takeaway Invest with discipline, not emotion. Themes investment speculation market psychology Mood cautious analytical Type financial educational When to use this quote - stock portfolio planning - financial education - retirement planning Key Concepts behavioral finance risk management Questions to Reflect On - How do you control emotional bias in investing? - What strategies mitigate speculative risks? A Different Perspective Market volatility can still cause losses despite discipline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fluctuation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluctuation/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Irrational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrational/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Price fluctuations have only one significant meaning for the true investor. They provide him with an opportunity to buy wisely when prices fall sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/price-fluctuations-have-only-one-significant-meaning-for-the-true/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [A big producer can survive price fluctuations on the world market. A small farmer can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/a-big-producer-can-survive-price-fluctuations-on-the-world-market-a/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Some of the best trades come when everyone gets very panicky. The crowd can often act very stupidly in the markets. You can picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-bradford-raschke/some-of-the-best-trades-come-when-everyone-gets-very-panicky-the/) [Linda Bradford Raschke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-bradford-raschke/) > [I've always been sceptical about the notion that the market is a person you can engage in an argument with, and that that person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stiglitz/i-ve-always-been-sceptical-about-the-notion-that-the-market-is-a/) [Joseph Stiglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stiglitz/) > [Nearly everyone interested in common stocks wants to be told by someone else what he thinks the market is going to do. The demand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/nearly-everyone-interested-in-common-stocks-wants-to-be-told-by/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“Security analysis cannot presume to lay down general rules as to the "proper value" of any given common stock... The prices of common stocks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/security-analysis-cannot-presume-to-lay-down-general-rules-as-to-the/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“I have little confidence even in the ability of analysts, let alone untrained investors, to select common stocks that will give better than average…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/i-have-little-confidence-even-in-the-ability-of-analysts-let-alone/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [A price decline is of no real importance to the bona fide investor unless it is either very substantial say, more than a third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/a-price-decline-is-of-no-real-importance-to-the-bona-fide-investor/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“We recommended that the investor divide his holdings between high-grade bonds and leading common stocks; that the proportion held in bonds be never less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/we-recommended-that-the-investor-divide-his-holdings-between-high/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The history of the past fifty years, and longer, indicates that a diversified holding of representative common stocks will prove more profitable over a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-history-of-the-past-fifty-years-and-longer-indicates-that-a/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brain and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-genuine-investor-in-common-stocks-does-not-need-a-great-equipment/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [If you are shopping for common stocks, choose them the way you would buy groceries, not the way you would buy perfume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/if-you-are-shopping-for-common-stocks-choose-them-the-way-you-would/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [It always seemed, and still seems, ridiculously simple to say that if one can acquire a diversified group of common stocks at a price…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/it-always-seemed-and-still-seems-ridiculously-simple-to-say-that-if/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The distinction between investment and speculation in common stocks has always been a useful one and its disappearance is cause for concern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-distinction-between-investment-and-speculation-in-common-stocks/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“Just as price fluctuations allocate scarce resources which have alternative uses, price controls which limit those fluctuations reduce the incentives for individuals to limit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/just-as-price-fluctuations-allocate-scarce-resources-which-have/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ## More by Benjamin Graham > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [There is something paradoxical in the fact that by establishing an export market we subject our entire domestic production to the vagaries of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/there-is-something-paradoxical-in-the-fact-that-by-establishing-an/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Those with the enterprise lack the money and those with the money lack the enterprise to buy stocks when they are cheap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/those-with-the-enterprise-lack-the-money-and-those-with-the-money/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [It must be fundamentally wrong to reduce production of food and fiber while one-third of our population is still ill fed and ill clothed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/it-must-be-fundamentally-wrong-to-reduce-production-of-food-and-fiber/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-intelligent-investor-is-a-realist-who-sells-to-optimists-and-buys/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Intelligent investment is more a matter of mental approach than it is of technique. A sound mental approach toward stock fluctuations is the touchstone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/intelligent-investment-is-more-a-matter-of-mental-approach-than-it-is/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Many progressive economists insist that gold is now in essentially the same position as silver and that the arguments the simon-pure gold advocates use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/many-progressive-economists-insist-that-gold-is-now-in-essentially/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The art of investment has one characteristic that is not generally appreciated. A creditable, if unspectacular, result can be achieved by the lay investor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-art-of-investment-has-one-characteristic-that-is-not-generally/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [We have not known a single person who has consistently or lastingly make money by thus "following the market". We do not hesitate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/we-have-not-known-a-single-person-who-has-consistently-or-lastingly/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-essence-of-investment-management-is-the-management-of-risks-not/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Wall Street people learn nothing and forget everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/wall-street-people-learn-nothing-and-forget-everything/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [In security analysis the prime stress is laid upon protection against untoward events. We obtain this protection by insisting upon margins of safety, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/in-security-analysis-the-prime-stress-is-laid-upon-protection-against/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Never buy a stock immediately after a substantial rise or sell one immediately after a substantial drop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/never-buy-a-stock-immediately-after-a-substantial-rise-or-sell-one/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Observation over many years has taught us that the chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/observation-over-many-years-has-taught-us-that-the-chief-losses-to/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [No matter how careful you are, the one risk no investor can ever eliminate is the risk of being wrong. Only by insisting on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/no-matter-how-careful-you-are-the-one-risk-no-investor-can-ever/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) [Explore all 229 Benjamin Graham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) ## More Common quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Benjamin Graham" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subject-to-irrational-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subject-to-irrational-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/benjamin-graham-1531_common_most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subje_1754724.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions…” — Benjamin Graham", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Benjamin Graham", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most of the time common stocks...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subject-to-irrational-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subject-to-irrational-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```