- By Reprinted with permission of Invstment Representative Celine Richardson of Ithaca's EdwardJones
- Business & Technology
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It's unfortunate, but true: Many people are not particularly successful investors. Why? Part of the reason can be explained in these few words: Fear and greed.
How do these two emotions keep investors from making progress toward their goals? Let's start with greed. Too many people are mesmerized by "hot" stocks - those stocks whose prices have risen substantially, often in a relatively short period of time. Instead of being satisfied with their gains, however, investors hang on to their shares, hoping they can wring more and more profits from ever-rising prices. But sometimes, rising stock prices are not indicative of high-quality stocks. For proof, just look back a few years, to the late 1990s, when investors poured huge amounts of money into high-tech and "dot.com" companies, many of which had little to offer, apart from futuristic names and fanciful business plans. For a while, the stock prices of these companies just kept rising. But in early 2000, the technology "bubble" burst, helping usher in a lengthy bear market.
In short, too many investors hear this advice: "buy low and sell high" - and then do just the opposite.
When to Buy…and When to Sell
To avoid "buying high and selling low," it would be helpful to know when a stock is going to reach its peak or valley. But no one can really predict these things - and it's usually a bad idea to try to "time" your sales based on when you think a "high" or "low" is near.
Your investment professional can help you ask the right questions about why a stock is moving up or down. For example, is a stock rising due to "hype," as was largely the case with the technology stocks of the late 1990s? Is its price/earnings ratio (stock price divided by earnings per share) unsustainably high? Or has its price gone up so long that some type of "correction" is perhaps inevitable? If any of these things are true, you might want to start thinking about the "sell high" part of the equation.
On the other end of the spectrum, you'll want to know why a stock's price is falling before you "bail out." Are its products or services losing their luster? Does the company belong to an industry in decline? Is it experiencing disappointing earnings? Or is it merely the victim of a "bear" market, which tends to drag down most stocks, even the high-quality ones?
If this is the case - in other words, if you're considering a high-quality stock whose price has fallen due to a down market or a recession - you might actually want to buy more shares, not sell the ones you have. Warren Buffet, perhaps the most famous investor in the world, has made a fortune buying out-of-favor stocks at favorable prices. And even if you don't achieve Buffet-like status, you can improve your chances of investment success by purchasing good stocks at good prices.
Fear and greed. Buy low and sell high. These are succinct phrases, but they say a lot about investing. Give them some thought.
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