Joshua Ballard

Cheap Stocks Aren't Always Bargains - Barron's

I disagree with both commenters as you can cash out, regroup your cash and trade for better returns rather than waiting 10 years for C to return a 10% positive growth per annum once it stabilizes.

I would rather cash out my $15k at a loss of $13,000 and trade on my $2000 for the next 5 years, than wait for my now $2000 investment to hopefully return an average of 10% per annum.

For the $2000 to return to $15,000 (last year's levels) at 10% per annum will take approximately 20 years. Nevermind the next 20 years of new/recovering/emerging market growth that you've missed out on.

Wipe out the last 20 years and you've missed the insane opportunities of the tech bubble, the housing bubble, the financial bubble and the russian bubble.

I couldn't possibly imagine wiping out the next 20 years of opportunities.

Dollar cost averaging helps ease the pain, but you have to load up a considerable amount to offset the losses in percentage terms.