lundi 14 décembre 2020

When you should do the things you really like instead of investing on the stock market

People who read the comment section have probably seen the extremely long comments from a guy named "($)o($)".  

While looking nice, that guy seems to have problems managing his money via the stock market as we can see below (this is a copy-paste from his comment received on my latest portfolio review). 


PERFORMANCE:
Jan-Oct 2020
Mine: _ _ _ _ _ -10.69%
TSX: _ _ _ _ _ -6.11%
Cumulative since inception
Mine: _ _ _ _ _ 2.23%
TSX: _ _ _ _ _ 20.44 %


You know, there's nothing wrong watching porn all day long or doing any other stuff you like if the stock market is not for you. First of all, if the TSX beats you on the long term, it's not a good sign, because it's simply not a very good index. Then, if your performance since inception (who knows when exactly is the inception) is 2,23%, you really should think about stopping all that and simply buy the S&P Index. You're losing your time and money. As fascinating as the market may be, you should not accept being beaten by the TSX by a very wide margin and the goal of that hobby should be to make money, not spend your time. 

Maybe that such a post could be the wake-up call for you. You will kick your ass and try to become the best investor in the world. 

But for now, you are simply a bad investor. Perhaps a very, very good human being, but let's put it this way: you probably excel more in any other field of your life than in investment. 

9 commentaires:

  1. Thank you for caring. I really appreciate your honest advice. It means a lot since I am a big fan of your blog.

    I am trying to be transparent and my performance includes everything from my first contribution across all of my accounts. I also hold most stocks I ever bought, so everyone can see my mistakes in the smallest size positions (several of which lost 90+%). Many people forget their first stupid resource or biotech stock they naively bought or other silly steps they did when starting out. My numbers include everything.

    My November 2020 cumulative numbers are +17.26% vs TSX index of +33.16%, as per my broker. (The RRSP is at -58.22%, TFSA +33.93%, and non-registered account at +46.10%.) That's the best I have managed to do. As many of you know, if you lose more than 2/3 in an account (like my RRSP), you have to more than triple your balance just to break even. That is irreversible damage that has already been done. I think this asymmetric relationship might be the most important lesson for any inexperienced person reading this.

    Even though I suck, I am very motivated to do my best since I have no other assets other than my portfolio. I live out of 2 suitcases. After my bicycle got stolen twice, I no longer even have that. I have also not been able to find relevant full time work after finishing my university degree and am unlikely to earn more than 50k per year for the near term future from my casual jobs, even though I work 6-8 FTE shifts a week. I am not in a very good spot in my life. I am very grateful for being healthy and having all of my existing opportunities but I am burned out and tired of being a loser.

    I am still hoping to learn to improve my portfolio performance. In the long term, this should be beneficial not only for my portfolio but also day-to-day life. Hopefully I am not being too irrational or stubborn and I will be able to slowly crawl out of the hole. For some people, trying to manage their portfolio gives them hope for a better future... a light at the end of the tunnel... to help them motivate themselves to work hard to get to a better place in life, when they are in a very dark place.

    Have a nice day and enjoy your holidays!

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    Réponses
    1. You have some great advices in the comments here. First of all, reduce a lot your number of stocks. Keep the ones that are growing the most and that have the best growth prospects. Things will surely improve.

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  2. Well said. Dont give up. Learn from your mistakes. Its not frigggin quantum mechanics ... or rocket science. I have many dog investments I would like to forget about. Dont sell your winners probably best advice although no simple formula. Is Mastercard a great investment at ANY price?

    Stocks generally overpriced today thanks to easy money.There willl be a crash someday - not just a temporary pullback when even the mighty Penetrator wont seem quite as clever!

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    1. The mighty Penetrator is just a bit better than the market these last years. I know some people who are ultra mighty.

      And of course, MasterCard isn’t a buy at any price. The current price is very high, but everything is very expensive, or almost everything...

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  3. I appreciate your honesty...I've gone through dark times myself. Hang in there and try to learn from your mistakes. Sometimes interests in seemingly unrelated fields can help one in their investing. For myself my interest in meta-physics (beyond the physical world) has helped me a lot in the investing world.

    Try reading 'The Power of Awareness' by Neville Goddard.

    You can read it for free on the net...see below...

    https://www.law-of-attraction-haven.com/support-files/the-power-of-
    awareness-neville-goddard.pdf

    Goddard was a rare human being. someone who was out to empower people rather than take their power away from them (like most everyone else on this planet).

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  4. To ($)o($)
    I would suggest that you put all your eggs in a smaller basket and guard that basket with your life.

    Sell all of the losers and bad businesses, which is most of your portfolio. Choose 5 or 6 companies with growing revenue and earnings in growing industries and learn everything about those companies. The companies must represent the future of our economy and have the biggest chance of displacing their competitors.

    You must make different decisions because, what you are doing now is damaging your state of mind and your financial future. Good luck.

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  5. To ($)o($)
    I would suggest that you put all your eggs in a smaller basket and guard that basket with your life.

    Sell all of the losers and bad businesses, which is most of your portfolio. Choose 5 or 6 companies with growing revenue and earnings in growing industries and learn everything about those companies. The companies must represent the future of our economy and have the biggest chance of displacing their competitors.

    You must make different decisions because, what you are doing now is damaging your state of mind and your financial future. Good luck.

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  6. ($)o($) I think you are awesome. No great investor ever started off making 18% a year. You are staying in the game with real money and that takes tremendous courage. Focus on your approach. Is it successful? If not, change it right away. Time is your best friend. Many of us have successful approaches, and there are many out in the world. Those Porsches you see don't come from PhD in rocket science. They come from guys like us.

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  7. Ce commentaire a été supprimé par l'auteur.

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