A preface and introduction to pillars of valuation

What is the difference between speculation and investment and how is this manifest in the real world?

Dear Reader,

All investment analysis, at the fundamental level, boils down to one question: What is this asset worth?

There are all manner of nonsense investment theses I come across on a daily basis. Invariably they boil down to a hunch about price movements.

“The company is going to keep growing like crazy.”
“People are always going to want x, y or z.”
…