Stocks as Good as Gold
Chasing shiny trinkets
As a new investor, I was drawn to the allure of growth. This led me to buy -- or seriously consider buying -- shares in tech darlings such as 3Com (Nasdaq: COMS) and Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq: LVLT) in the 1990s. But while these stocks were shinier than gold for a while, the luster wore off after the bubble burst in 2000. Each stock shed more than 80% of its value in the ensuing three years, and they've made little progress in recovering since.
Not that these companies are poor businesses -- the fundamental conditions just didn't support the extreme share price at the time. I would have been far better off had I understood what demented guru Jeremy Siegel pointed out in his book, The Future for Investors: Regular investments in stable, dividend-paying stocks are ultimately the best place for long-term cash.
All posts are only my opinion and are not buy or sell recommendations.
