Emotional Involvement
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
al@mutualfundstrategy.com; 1-888-345-7870
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exitingMore Stocks & Mutual Funds Information:
Related Articles
Hot Stock Trader: How to Pick Momentum Stocks with Ease and Simplicity
Most stock traders know that momentum trading can be a very profitable activity. You can make big amounts of cash in a short period of time.
Dispelling Illusions of the Stock Market
How can you dispel an illusion unless you look directly at it? The magician distracts the eye with one hand while he does his manipulation with the other. You are looking in the wrong place and not seeing what is actually happening.
Which Way The Market
I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show hosts and the talking heads on TV that the market is going back to its old highs - DOW 11,700 and NASDAQ 5000 here we come.It seems to me that in 2000 I heard these same people saying there was no top to the market and were looking into their crystal balls for DOW 30,000 or some other fantastic number.
Buy and Hold Investment Philosophy
Wall Street has been preaching the doctrine of Buy and Hold forever. The worst part about it is the small investor (and some big ones) actually believe it.
Online Investing & Stock & Share Trading: 4 Reasons Why Most Online Investors & Traders Go Broke
Are you attracted to the idea of being in control of your financial future, but confused about how to start investing in the stock or share market, while avoiding costly mistakes?Or maybe you're disappointed with your performance so far?Does it sometimes feel like every time you take the plunge and buy into the market, the price goes down?That's understandable..
Inverted Interest Rates
Inverted interest rates? What's that? Who cares? Even if you don't understand what Mr. Greenspan is saying (and almost nobody does) it is important to you because it could mean you might lose you job next year or have to cut back on some of the things you want to acquire.
The Cub; II
We keep hearing about this bear market and that the bottom is "in" or "very close" so we should be invested in these bargain basement prices to take advantage of the next bull so we won't lose out on the expected huge profits.This is not a big bear market - yet.
Dividend Reinvestment Plans: Investing on Automatic Pilot
If you're like many investors who squander those small dividend checks from your stock portfolio, a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) might be just what you need. Just as its name implies, a Dividend Reinvestment Plan allows you to reinvest some or all of those dividends into more stock of the issuing company.
Dividend Paying Stocks
I would like to share with the reader an article printed in the financial section of U.S.
A Stock Market Investment Plan that Never Lets You Down
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both tempting and scary to the investors. Speculators are enchanted by the stock market's potential to help them in making quick money with a big M.
Trading For A Living
How many times have you said to yourself, "I'd like to quit this job and just make a living trading in the stock market"? Well, maybe you can, BUT..
Tips to Finding Other People's Simple Trading Plans
Did you know you can make money (and a lot of it) by simply modeling someone else's trading plan? Yes, it is true. Unbelievably, there are many of trading gurus doing it RIGHT NOW.
Overvalued & Underbought
With all the bad news that has been dumped upon the economy for some reason the stock market is going up. Why?The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has just set up new guidelines for core earnings.
Never Fall In Love!
Recently I watched my favorite football team lose a vital game.I simply love this team.
E-mini Day Trading - Day Trading for Beginners - Stock Market Timing Software
I mean it when I say that. While plastic silverware is fine for picnics and parties, it is totally inappropriate in a surgeon's hand with an open brain in front of him.
Choosing An Investment Stock Broker
If you want one.And I don't recommend any broker with whom to trade who will be giving you advice on what to buy and sell.
Why Change Funds?
On November 17 I bought 7 different mutual funds and went to a 100% invested position. One of the funds I bought was Robertson Stevens Information Age (RSIFX) and it has made money as have the other six.
War Market
There is no question that the stock market is being affected by war jitters. When it looks like peace we have a strong rally.
How To Beat The Mutual Fund Companies At Their Own Game
You'd have had to be living on a desert island with no TV, newspaper or internet connection to have missed hearing about the great mutual fund scandal of 2003.The issue was that some mutual fund companies allowed certain hedge funds to engage in after-hours trading, sometimes incorrectly referred to as market timing.
A Common Misconception about Stock Prices
I cringe every time I hear a novice investor tell me that they only purchase low priced stocks because they offer higher potential gains. A common phase I hear is "I like to buy $1 and $2 stocks because they can double easily and I will make a 100% profit".