There are numerous studies on investing and investing success. We are in a lookout for the characteristics of the successful historical investments.
Most of the very successful investings have very similar characteristics and traits.
Our finding is pertinent to stocks investing.
Price is the King!
One of the characteristics of the successful investment is the price paid for the investment.
In fact, the price determines the very success or failure of any investment.
No doubt, this method was popularized by no other than Ben Graham and Warren Buffett. They call it cigar butt. They invested in companies whose market price is less than its net current assets.
If you pay cents for a dollar, you are almost guaranteed to make profits. And the lesser you pay for a dollar, the higher your investment return.
Price paid for an asset is the number one factor in investing success.
We, our self, rather hastily, pronounced that General Electric (GE) was a bad company to hold. (Read Here). Maybe it is (at $17 per share). However, owning GE at $6.70 per share may not be that risky.

(Source: MarketWatch)
So, the whole investment prospective changes with the change in the price without a move in its business fundamentals.
Final Thought
Price paid for an investment is the deciding characteristic of successful investments.
Stocks priced at less than book value are purchased on the assumption that, in time, their market price will reflect at least their stated book value is the successful stock investing strateg.
Either it is a good asset or a bad asset, if you pay less than its intrinsic value you ought to make some profit.
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