Great Stock Pickers are Terrible Sellers

Over the years, I was privileged to know several great stock pickers.  And the one thing they had in common was they were terrible sellers.

Wait!

How can a great stock picker be a terrible seller?

Let me explain.

A great stock picker is someone who recognizes a great stock opportunity waaaaaayyyy ahead of the crowd.  And they’ll usually put their money where their mouth is.

But great stock pickers don’t always think alike.

Some use sophisticated technical and fundamental analysis – using charts, graphs, stochastics, candles, etc. – to arrive to their conclusions.

And others simply use “Street Smarts.”

See if you can tell the difference and/or know someone like my two crazy traders/friends Dave and Herbie.

Dave was a mathematician, college educated, with a scientific proclivity. And he loved charts.  And he never limited his picks to any particular sector.

Like most junkies high rollers, he also loved the adrenaline rush when he found a winner.

A Terrible Seller

Dave was what we called a “Flipper” and was known to buy and sell stocks on the same day…sometimes the same stock twice.

His nick name was Dave “Long-Term-Over-the Weekend” King.

Why?

He considered the weekend a long-term hold.

Herbie, had an eighth-grade education but was enormously successful in the grocery business in downtown Chicago.

He too was an adrenaline junkie.

But his approach to buying stocks had nothing to do with charts, math, science, etc.

He was brilliant at recognizing patterns…especially when they involved human behavior.

Example:  In the 70s he saw that customers were more likely to buy more groceries if he had a mini-bank branch set up in his stores.  It made it convenient for them to get cash.

That was a precursor to ATM machines.  And he looked for companies developing those types of technology.

Today, ATMs are everywhere.

There’s far too many examples of Dave and Herbie’s trading prowess to share in an email.

But they both were relentless with their methods.

And one thing they had in common was they loved penny stocks.

More Terrible Sellers

However, when it came to selling, both made one of two common mistakes.

They either sold too soon or sold too late.

Has that ever happened to you?

Every month we write a column called “Short and Sweet Tips” in our monthly newsletter (HERE).

In it we share many examples of what to look for and/or NOT look for when investing in stocks.

So, if you want to increase your winning percentages, simply Upgrade to our premium content (HERE).

You won’t regret it.

And share this with your “Stock Picker” friends.

They’ll thank YOU later.

We’re Not Just About Finance.

https://www.financialsmatter.com/category/in-plain-english/

*************************