capgain

The Most Dangerous Place to Get Investing Advice

Thank you for such a well-written and simply stated article. It is chock full of basic common sense advice. I consider myself a fairly sophisticated investor and as I read this article I kept saying to myself..."I wish I had seen this forty years ago; I would have avoided so many stupid mistakes."

Your initial point re chartists is so spot-on! Whenever I see one spouting their "expertise", I see a driver steering his vehicle by firmly grasping his rear-view mirror!

Also, your advice to understand what a company does before investing is so basic and yet so often ignored. But it has served Uncle Warren well over the years, hasn't it? As has his advice to panic when others are greedy and be greedy when others are in panic.

You are, however, very forgiving of stockbrokers. My experience of them over forty plus years of investing is a bit less charitable. I define a broker as someone who will likely make you moreso.

Overall, a very good article. Thank you.

Analyzing Analysts on GE, GOOG, C Earnings

Bravo! Well said! The first two sentences of your piece are spot on. The added "value" that analysts provide is worth almost as much as an expired option. They come from the same gene pool as consultants, that over-compensated genre that takes your watch in order to tell you what time it is.