Ford Motor Company (F)

[jugs]

Over many years of investing I have found that there are two categories of posters about individual stocks one should avoid. Cheerleaders tend to post things such as "go Ford," and make mountains out of good news molehills. There is an opposing camp which I call "shorters." They are betting that a particular stock will go down, and they make molehills our of good news mountains. Those of us who invest in stocks for the long term don't pay much attention to either one.

There's yet another group which you fail to identify:

Long term holders.

What are you using to validate holding any stock long term in advance of a market-perceived and proven justification?

For me, long term seems to be akin to mindless determination to stand pat on a position bought on a particular date and then supposed to hold merit for the long term of holding. What could this be based upon given that only foresight could possibly point to underlying growing value? And it fails to explain the long term holder's faith and/or hope that things will work out as planned when---in fact---there's no earthly way for the investor to do so, validly?

And why not put a definite mark on this time-period of allowed holding? Go ahead, give it a year! Two years! Hell, let's really go for it and designate 10 years as the pre-specified hold period!

This is an absurd argument in my opinion. As I approach eighty years of living and trusting my instincts and lessons learned, I view every stock position I hold as its living in an incubator of sorts. You see, I know from experience that no investment deserves blind faith. I saw GM go bankrupt and I bought GE at under $5. Many others along the way suffered terrible changes. Some of us prospered while others, no doubt, were severely damaged.

No, there are at least three categories of investors. For me, the most important is the one allowing for a mark-to-market approach whereby each holding is challenged continually without regard for any group-think out there!

In the final analysis, there's only one opinion out there destined to shape my involvement in anything I pursue---and it's my own opinion. And even that may (and often does) change day to day, hour to hour and even minute to minute.

Thank you for considering a somewhat different approach. And rest assured, I very much respect your attempting to piece some things together as you have. Not too many posters care in the most important of ways. You've demonstrated the determination to teach and by doing so, you teach. That, in my opinion, is the very best any of us can give.

Thank you!