don’t take my word for it
As someone who has had his fingers burnt on many occasions and currently finds them on-fire in the crypto space, I came across several ancient axioms t’other day that thought I’d share them with you. You can be the judge of how much they’ve stood the test of time and if they still hold water:
- “Sell on the first profits warning” Look at Rolls-Royce’s recent trials & tribulations as, from the first warning to the last, the share price more than halved.
- “The first cut is the deepest” None of us likes admitting we’re wrong but if you’ve backed a dud, don’t sit-tight with everything crossed, call it a day and cut your losses.
- “Don’t fall in love, it’s not personal” Love is blind but this is no reason to buy. Many people love the institutions that are M&S and John Lewis yet the shares of the former are half what they were in 2007. I refer you to point #1 wrt to the latter…
- “Be fearful when others are greedy, and vice-versa” Be bold but content to take the profit you’re happy with.
- “Never try to catch a falling knife” When a stock price suddenly drops, it’s tempting to automatically see it as a perfect buying opportunity. Yet as Tesco optimists discovered, there’s often a long way to the bottom.
- “It’s time in the markets, not timing the markets that counts” Somewhat contrary to all the others but often it’s the right call to be in for the long-haul. Furthermore, timing the markets is nigh on impossible!
- “Sell when your taxi-driver gives you the tip” Bitcoin hit $20,000/coin last year when everyone was talking about it, but by then all the smart money had been made and it’s lost 70% of its value since.
Where were these wise words when I needed them!
