Good post. I struggle with the mind games you mention towards the end of this article too. I find they get so circular and turned around, inaction ends up being the result. Whether that is a good result, I am not sure. Most instances of large stock declines, I'm usually wrong to average down. But sometimes, just sometimes, I see something the market doesn't. Those few instances prove fantastic buying opportunities and I think cause much internal deliberating and angst because you are always trying to figure out if the stock drop is one of those few instances. I've heard of personal investing policies to only average up. This might make sense from the standpoint that most of the time the market sees something I don't and its time to move on when a stock drops precipitously. However, it sounds like you have the same internal deficiencies I do where averaging up is a pretty painful exercise. You also probably miss out on those fantastic buying opportunities, which is just as painful. This is because you were ready to act on the share price decline, thought through it fully, but let your mental checks talk yourself out of it. But, this all goes back to the mental deficiency of trying to buy at the lowest, best possible price...
Good post. I struggle with the mind games you mention towards the end of this article too. I find they get so circular and turned around, inaction ends up being the result. Whether that is a good result, I am not sure. Most instances of large stock declines, I'm usually wrong to average down. But sometimes, just sometimes, I see something the market doesn't. Those few instances prove fantastic buying opportunities and I think cause much internal deliberating and angst because you are always trying to figure out if the stock drop is one of those few instances. I've heard of personal investing policies to only average up. This might make sense from the standpoint that most of the time the market sees something I don't and its time to move on when a stock drops precipitously. However, it sounds like you have the same internal deficiencies I do where averaging up is a pretty painful exercise. You also probably miss out on those fantastic buying opportunities, which is just as painful. This is because you were ready to act on the share price decline, thought through it fully, but let your mental checks talk yourself out of it. But, this all goes back to the mental deficiency of trying to buy at the lowest, best possible price...
there certainly is confusion among competitive people.
but it is usually an inability to ever realize they have enough.
'stay wealthy' is a different mode, and minimal tweaks is a critical strategy.
Great psychotherapy for the restless and fidgety money managers😄