"Something to think about... Anyone that gets so nervous that they cannot wait to sell
should reconsider their fortitude for investing. If you look at any of the huge moneymaking
stock market stories over the last five years and you wonder - boy it was so easy - just
invest $100 in Dell and take out $750,000 five years later - why couldn't I have gotten in
on that?
The answer is you could have, but most people are too blind, too squeamish, too quick to
panic, too quick to take short-term profits, too near-sighted to envision the true magnitude
of the "down the road" potential, too easily excited by "positive posts" while at the same
time too easily vexed by the "negative ones" to realize what they have in front of them until
it's gone. There are no "sure things" but some are closer than others. Many of the most
successful investors wear "blinders", earplugs, whatever it takes to remove themselves
from the daily grind of pessimism and the weekly/monthly grind of volatile stock swings as
they go by their instincts. Study any of the most successful stocks over the last 3 years
and chart what was being said about them "then" and how investors were reacting to
those words "then" and compare that to where they are "now." and you will see some
startling contrasts.
A perfect example is AOL. (Yes, we all realize that the Internet sector has been sagging
as of late, but regardless of that, an investment in AOL 2-3 years ago would still be worth
major bucks today after 6 stock splits.) Look at the history of AOL's last 3 years and you
will be amazed at the moments of pessimism and stock downturns. Most of the daily
followers of AOL that bought in 3 years ago were scared out 1 to 2 years ago. It sounds
hard to believe but there were many times that you could have read AOL's obituary. I
know, because before I started investing in the stock market, I said to myself - AOL -
wow, it was (is) so easy to make money - everybody should be rich but their not. -Why? -
So I went back and read every article in "The Street.Com's" archives and looked up
countless prior news and commentaries on AOL at various news sites to understand and
help me gain the "confidence to relax."
The answer is that throughout any company's path to success there are many moments of
anxiety, moments of doubt, moments requiring great patience and moment's that invoke.
"Murphy's 3rd Corollary of Stock Investing" which states: "All stocks experience
downturns just long enough to induce you to sell on the morning of the day that it
rebounds." And also. "Murphy's 2nd Postulate of psychological Market Parameters"
(commonly referred to as M2PPMP) which indicates that: "For every piece of good news
that invokes you to buy there will be two pieces of follow-up commentary that will convince
you to sell too soon." So who made out the best in AOL (even with its currently depressed
price?)
Certainly not the M2PPMP crowd, but the investors that wore their blinders. I'm content to
put my blinders on. But alas, in the end, every-one has to make their own decision based
upon their own lives. But if a few weeks or a few downturns is all that it takes to scare you
out of what may potentially be the Stock that will change your life then so be it, fall victim
to M2PPMP and be content in the fact that you can still live vicariously through the rest of
us willing to go the distance and reap the rewards" - Magnum 100
Cheers
Voluntary Disclosure: Strong Buy : Long and Short Term
Cheers
Voluntary Disclosure: Strong Buy : Long and Short Term
