Uh oh. We're in trouble...I just hosted our annual Investment U seminar, where a few hundred attendees came to learn to be better investors. With a laundry list of
stars in our business, attendees picked up a lot of great investment ideas. And that might have been problem...
While picking up a few good investment picks might be a nice thing in short run, it's not going to sustain you over long run.
So in my closing remarks at Investment U, I tried to make sure attendees stayed on right path. I turned investors' attention back to Investment U's "Twelve Timeless Rules of Investing." I pointed out a few that are particularly important right now...
Timeless Rule #1: An attempt at making a buck often leads to losing much of that buck.
"Wow, Exxon sure has soared. If only I'd bought call options on stock instead of just buying stock, imagine how rich I'd be... I'd be retired now. Or... If only I'd bought a tiny oil exploration company instead of big blue chip, I'd also be retired."
It's a nice thought... but it just doesn't work in practice. As natural resources expert Rick Rule (http://www.gril.net) said: "Your risk is infinitely higher with a company looking for oil than a company that's already got it."
Everyone wants big score. But chasing it is like playing lottery - for a lucky few, it works. For everyone else, those lottery tickets expire worthless.
Timeless Rule #3: Cut your losers, let your winners ride.
This was a big theme of conference. Most individual investors invest with a strategy that's doomed from start. They invest in a limited upside, unlimited downside way. If a stock goes up 20%, they'll take a profit. If it goes down, they'll hold it. This leaves them with a portfolio of losers.
