5 Habits of Successful Investors, With Five Real Numbers; the Last One: Profit Up 20.8 Times, Cash 10.2% (Sunday, November 8, 2026)

What do the habits attributed to successful investors look like in Iran's own market data? For each habit, this piece gives one dated example from Sahmino's records or a Codal filing. Each example shows which problem the habit reduces and where it guarantees nothing. The count starts at habit five, and habit one, reading the report, carries the strongest number.

5. Saving regularly

Suppose 10 million tomans of 18-karat gold is bought every month, on the 8th of the Gregorian month or the first recorded session after it. The price of one gram of 18-karat gold in Sahmino's daily records on those twelve days, in tomans:

• 8 November 2025 (17 Aban 1404): 10,430,700
• 8 December 2025 (17 Azar 1404): 12,713,200
• 8 January 2026 (18 Dey 1404): 15,808,400
• 8 February 2026 (19 Bahman 1404): 18,780,400
• 15 March 2026 (24 Esfand 1404, first record after the 8th): 16,923,000
• 8 April 2026 (19 Farvardin 1405): 17,970,800
• 9 May 2026 (19 Ordibehesht 1405, first record after the 8th): 19,323,100
• 8 June 2026 (18 Khordad 1405): 18,063,200
• 8 July 2026 (17 Tir 1405): 17,883,300
• 8 August 2026 (17 Mordad 1405): 18,814,600
• 8 September 2026 (17 Shahrivar 1405): 23,623,400
• 8 October 2026 (16 Mehr 1405): 26,307,100

The twelve purchases cost 120 million tomans and bought about 7.023 grams. The average price paid per gram is 120 million ÷ 7.023 = 17.087 million tomans. On 7 November 2026 (16 Aban 1405), the latest settled record, the price was 25,594,000 tomans: 49.8% above the average paid (25.594 ÷ 17.087 = 1.498). The 7.023 grams are worth about 179.7 million tomans.

The limit of this example is clear. Had the whole 120 million tomans been bought in one go on 8 November 2025, the result would be a 145.4% gain (25.594 ÷ 10.431 = 2.454); bought on the most expensive day in the list, 8 October 2026, it would be a 2.7% loss (25.594 ÷ 26.307 = 0.973). Monthly buying landed between the two. The habit does not guarantee the best date; it takes guessing the date out of the decision.

4. Diversifying

From 13 October to 7 November 2026 (21 Mehr to 16 Aban 1405), the Tehran Stock Exchange main index (TEDPIX) went from 8,460,497 to 8,083,616 points: a 4.5% fall. The equal-weight index went from 2,220,040 to 2,259,719: a 1.8% rise. 18-karat gold went from 25,739,600 to 25,594,000 tomans: a 0.6% fall. The free-market dollar went from 257,710 to 266,110 tomans: a 3.3% rise, meaning a weaker rial. Four assets, four behaviors in one window, and even the two Tehran indices differed.

Over the longer window of 11 July to 7 November (20 Tir to 16 Aban), all four rose: TEDPIX 56.0%, the equal-weight index 65.4%, gold 46.5% and the dollar 49.3%. So diversification does not always show a difference; its value lies in windows where assets part ways, and those windows are not known beforehand. The calculation for every percentage: (end − start) ÷ start.

3. Patience

TEDPIX stood at 5,311,524 points on 7 July 2026 (16 Tir 1405) and fell to 4,755,500 on 19 July (28 Tir): a 10.5% drop in 12 calendar days. At the close of 7 November the index was 8,083,616: 70.0% above that low and 52.2% above that peak (8,083,616 ÷ 4,755,500 = 1.700). The same window held a second drop: a peak of 8,460,497 on 13 October (21 Mehr) and a low of 7,649,409 on 2 November (11 Aban), a 9.6% fall. By 7 November, 53.5% of that drop had been recovered (434,207 ÷ 811,088).

This is a four-month window in a rising period and does not show that patience always pays. It shows that ten-percent drops appear in the data, and a drop alone is not a reason to change a decision; the reason that built the decision has to change.

2. Not buying on excitement

Iran Daru (ticker IRDR) closed at 14,000 rials on 24 August 2026 (2 Shahrivar 1405). Its next highest close was 24,070 rials on 21 October (29 Mehr): 71.9% higher (24,070 ÷ 14,000 = 1.719). The close of 7 November (16 Aban) was 19,650 rials, 18.4% below that peak, within 17 calendar days (19,650 ÷ 24,070 = 0.816). The buyer of 24 August is still 40.4% ahead (19,650 ÷ 14,000 = 1.404), and the buyer on the peak day is 18.4% behind.

So this example does not say that buying during a rise is a mistake. It says the price of the moment of excitement moved 18% in two weeks, and someone who did not fix the entry price and amount before seeing the headline handed the decision to that moment. The prices are the exchange's printed prices. This is one ticker and one window, not a rule.

1. Reading the report

The standalone, unaudited financial statements of Iranian Zinc Industries (Fegostar, IZIZ), Codal letter with tracing number 1611166, report net profit of 7,033,243 million rials for the six months to 22 September 2026 (31 Shahrivar 1405), against 337,834 million rials in the restated year-earlier column: 20.8 times. The headline stops there. The cash flow statement for the same period and the same standalone basis shows net operating cash flow of 719,957 million rials: 10.2% of net profit (719,957 ÷ 7,033,243). In tomans, profit is about 703.3 billion and operating cash about 72.0 billion (1 million rials equals 100,000 tomans).

Fairness matters here. Operating cash in the same six months a year earlier was 145,263 million rials, so cash grew 5 times; it simply did not keep pace with profit. The cash-to-profit ratio went from 43.0% (145,263 ÷ 337,834) to 10.2%. The company also paid 688,984 million rials for fixed assets in the period, 95.7% of operating cash. That ratio does not state the cause of the gap and does not say which stock is better; it says that after seeing the profit headline, the cash page has to be read too.

The Sahmino screener carries the operating-cash-to-profit ratio among its criteria for tickers with financial statements. Sahmino's full report on Fegostar gives the company's detail.

Summary

The strongest number in this list is the one the headline does not show: profit up 20.8 times with 10.2% of it turned into operating cash. The other four habits are methods and not a proven cause of anyone's success. The gold calculation leaves out fees, the buy-sell spread, making charges and tax; the index comparison leaves out cash dividends and trading costs. Gold and dollar prices come from Sahmino's daily records, indices from each session's record, the Iran Daru prices from each session's close, and the Fegostar figures from the Codal letter. All the numbers are in the past, and none is a promise of future returns.