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Two weeks ago, I managed to anger quite a few people with a Washington Post column titled: Missed the big market rally? Here’s what to do now.
There were a variety of perturbed commenters both here and at WaPo as well as angry emails and assorted bemused tweets.
While lots of readers, commenters and emailers “got it,” a great many did not. I was accused of being a shill for Wall Street (never), a perma Bull (Ha!), and a gold hater (I am not enamored of the money losing gold narratives).
Most of those pushing back were in the throes of their own cognitive foibles, and rationalizing their own erroneous investments.
The pushback included these lines from actual emails and comments:
• The only way you did not miss the 150 percent move is if you bought at the bottom and sold at the high and invested 100 percent in the stock market.
• The Fed is printing money, and the Dow is heading to 5000!
• Count on the fact that you are an outsider and not privy to the insiders’ knowledge or strategy.
• What makes you think you know where the markets are going?
• I went to all cash on [the day before any recent market sell-off].
• What should investors do if they missed the move in gold from $250 an ounce to nearly $1,900 an ounce?
• Aren’t you advocating a buy-and-hold approach? I thought you were not a fan of that.
I answer each of these succinctly and IMO, convincingly.
My conclusion could not have been simpler:
“The key to investment success is simple: Have a plan. Follow it faithfully. Max out your tax-deferred accounts. Dollar-cost average. Rebalance. Diversify. And invest for the long term.”
Go check out the full piece.
Source:
Missing the big stocks rally: Readers push back
Barry Ritholtz
Washington Post, June 30, 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/missing-the-big-stocks-rally-readers-push-back/2013/06/28/3ce5242c-dc1d-11e2-9218-bc2ac7cd44e2_story.html
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