There’s no such thing as a stock picking expert. There’s no such thing as a stock picking expert. There’s no such thing as a stock picking expert.
Say it with me … “There’s no such thing as a stock picking expert.”
And it’s never been more obvious than now.
It’s basically been proven that monkeys can pick stocks better than so-called experts, but if you need further proof, consider this look back at the “best stocks” as recommended at the beginning of the decade.
The most widely recommended — according to a quick survey at the time in the Washington Post — were America Online, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, MCI WorldCom, Lucent Technology and Texas Instruments.
Ahem.
Any people who invested in that portfolio have lost about two-thirds of their money. The average stock picked at random was up 3%, including dividends.
Money Magazine’s “The Best Investments for 2000 and Beyond”: down about a fifth.
The SmartMoney/Wall Street Journal Sunday picks fell by about a half. The list was heavily weighted toward technology, and most stocks plummeted. MCI WorldCom and Nortel Networks ended up in Chapter 11.
Some “expert” advice.
Why would anyone listen to these people? No one knows what the market is going to do … that’s why you should just ride the wave. And you definitely shouldn’t be paying these people to make dumb decisions with your money.
This is also the reason why you should ignore all advice related to your money in 2010. You can’t predict the future, and neither can these so-called experts.
(photo: Willow&Monk)
