  One of the most important topics that always seems to come up when people talk to me about their investments is how important it is to be prepared for painful times in the portfolio.
Nobody’s stock portfolio goes straight up forever, and everybody needs to be prepared for those times when you get cold. Can you handle being down 10%-15% or more for six months? It will happen to you at some point in the next 10 years — you’ll be cold in your trading for months-longs stretches.
What if Apple AAPL gets hit after earnings, no matter how good they are? It happens. What if Google’s GOOG anti-trust and privacy issues heat up and you haven’t sold a share? You’re going to be wrong about Bank of America’s BAC next 10% move and if you’re right about that, you’ll probably miss the read on Goldman’s chart and GS’s next 10% move after that. Are you sure that Ford F short will go in your direction this month? Next month?
And I want all of you right now, while the markets are up through the roof and our positions have been rocking to think about whether you’ll be okay when all this happens to you at some point. And if you’re hoping to depend on your trading for living expenses and income, will you be okay if you can’t take money out of your stock account in six months because the markets went against you for a while?
Now is the time to think about this type of stuff, not when the markets are down and you’re crying in your beer next time. Because there will be a next time of you crying in your beer because the markets are down and you were wrong for a stretch of trades. |
发表于 2012-3-25 21:54
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发表于 2012-3-26 08:49
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