I'll bet with almost anyone that has stocks or mutual funds in his portfolio that he has losers, but he won't sell them because he "likes them" or some similar excuse. This is the philosophy of a loser.
You cannot become emotionally involved with anything you have bought whether it is stocks, mutual funds, collectibles, real estate, etc. etc. When you see the value of these things heading down it is time to try to salvage some of your money even if you have to take a loss.
I have seen people hang on to a piece of land (or a stock) for years just so they could get out "even". Believe me "even" is not even. Suppose you paid $20,000 for the land and it took you 8 years to find someone willing to buy it for $20,000. If you could have sold it for $15,000 and put the money in a money market account at 6% for 8 years you would now have more than the original $20,000 ($20,495). When you invest money in anything you cannot afford to have emotional ties to it. You must be willing to sell when the time comes. Most people don't want to sell for two reasons. They won't take a loss; however, the main reason is psychological - they don't want to admit they were wrong. When I was a broker I would watch people trade. Almost none of them were trading to make money although that was what they said. They were trading to find out how much pain they could stand from losing. They were trading for emotional reasons.
The difference between professional traders and a non-professional investor is the ability to divorce themselves from the emotions of the trade. Win, lose or draw the pro knows the risk and is willing to take that loss quickly if it should occur.
Emotional involvement in investing is one of the best ways I know of to lose money. You must be able to look dispassionately at your stocks, bonds and mutual funds and be able to sell them when they turn negative. Negative does not mean go to a loss. It may mean they are no longer making a good return every year with your money and it is time to move to some other stock or fund. You might have a stock that has doubled since you bought it, but that was 2 years ago and it has done nothing since then. Time to sell. Look at your annual ROI (return on investment) of each individual issue to determine if your money is doing better than the overall market or whatever your personal criteria might be.
Many years ago I heard how they caught monkeys. The hunters would drill a hole in a coconut shell just small enough so the monkey could fit his open hand through the hole. It was tied to a tree with a strong cord. Inside there was fruit and sugar. The monkey put his hand in, grasped the goodies, but could not get his closed fist out. He would not even let go when the hunter came to capture him. Unfortunately, there are many investors grasping at losing positions. Isn't time to let go of some of those stocks you have been holding because you "like" them?
Let go of those emotional ties. You will make more money.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com; 1-888-345-7870
one time home cleaning Highland Park ..The World Bank claims that some two billion of the... Read More
How do you invest? What do you really pay? At... Read More
I use the P/E ratio as a secondary indicator for... Read More
Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More
This is a guide to the different types of mutual... Read More
We need a rabbit!This was a pretty horrible week for... Read More
You probably have been told that options are risky. Even... Read More
Recently I watched my favorite football team lose a vital... Read More
You read and hear a lot about hedge funds. Unfortunately,... Read More
There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that... Read More
The Shadow knows. Remember him? It seems a shadow has... Read More
As GuruFocus updates the stock buys and sells of gurus,... Read More
This is a rather simple strategy with which I am... Read More
I have a 2-car garage. There are nice shelves on... Read More
If you have talked to a stock broker or financial... Read More
Do you own any mutual funds? In an IRA or... Read More
Let's assume that you want to make some serious money... Read More
I have watched my cat play with a bag of... Read More
If you don't know what a Roth IRA is then... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
There is a famous cliff on the ocean in Acapulco... Read More
How many people went to a cash position this week?... Read More
Analyzing growth stocks is an important focus for any investor.... Read More
As I have said many times before in this column... Read More
Every day I see in the financial section of newspapers... Read More
licensed cleaning services Park Ridge ..Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
The Shadow knows. There used to be a radio program... Read More
I receive emails from Morningstar. This company provides statistics and... Read More
This is an extract of an article which was first... Read More
Wall Street's watchword has always been diversification, but what does... Read More
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I... Read More
Mutual funds are doing more and more to discourage investors... Read More
Everything you invest in has risk so you want to... Read More
For the last few weeks we have seen the stock... Read More
Question: How does it get better when it gets worse?Last... Read More
Many people would like to diversify their portfolios to expand... Read More
Its dinnertime and the phone rings. It's Joe Noname with... Read More
One of the great truisms of Wall Street is "Don't... Read More
Any online investor / trader seeks an excellent off or... Read More
I don't know what kind it is, but I saw... Read More
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both... Read More
I am sure that if you have a brokerage account... Read More
Right now there doesn't seem to be any "gold fever".... Read More
You have heard about a particular mutual fund from a... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
I have been trading for several decades and was an... Read More
Reach in your pocket and take out that big roll... Read More
At some time in your life you have been on... Read More
Most people think the stock market is a zero sum... Read More
Quick, look out the window. It's raining. No, the sun's... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |