Finances and Work Financial Planning Bear Markets Should Be WELCOMED, Not Feared!
Bear Markets Should Be WELCOMED, Not Feared! |
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| Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:00 |
I firmly believe that one of the great myths in our industry of financial professionals is that our job is mainly to assist our clients in "growing their assets" or "outperforming the market". In fact, the reality is that most studies will show that most investment professionals have consistently underperformed the market averages over time, with over time being defined as more than ten years. So if our clients truly believe that our job is to multiply their wealth, than why is it that many of us are not keeping up with their expectations? 
My goal here is to provide some valuable concepts that will make us all better investors. Now, you might ask, what qualifies me to give investment tips to such an esteemed group of financial professionals and Registered Financial Consultants? Good question. What I can tell you is that in my personal journey in this wonderful career, I have been blessed. Not only has my father been a stock market professional for over forty years, but I have also had the great fortune of working directly with one of the nation's leading money managers for twelve years, who began his career in this business in 1966, more than 42 years ago. One of their favorite sayings I always recall is "experience is the name you give your mistakes... if you learn from them." Well, for the past twenty years, I've had the gift of learning from both the good and bad experiences of these two seasoned professionals. And what I'd like to do is share with you, by far, the most valuable lesson that I have learned: Try not to focus so much on growing your client's assets, but rather on helping your clients avoid major stock market losses. In fact, I tell my clients on a regular basis that "90% of my job is to help you avoid large losses." Now, that may sound a little strange, or maybe even counterintuitive. So please allow me to help clarify this with an example that has helped me to better understand the real beauty... and the fantastic opportunity... that is afforded to all of us by investing in the stock market. I'd like to call this example: The Bad, The Worst, The Good, and The Beautiful. The Bad: Let's pretend you purchased a stock today at the price of $100. Let's also pretend that even though this stock is a seasoned blue-chip the Vol. 9 No. 11 • November 2008 Official IARFC Publication www.IARFC.org Bear Markets Should Be WELCOMED, Not Feared! company, over the next 12 months the major stock market averages suffers a dramatic Bear Market. As a result of this major Bear Market decline, let's assume the stock you purchased also collapses down 50%, reducing the price down to $50. At this point, I think it's fair to say that most investors would be both pessimistic and fearful. In fact, studies prove that it is at times like this when most investors usually sell this stock, particularly if the news and media are extremely negative as well. This is commonly referred to as "panic selling". The Worst: So why are most investors willing to sell a stock that is down 50%? In my opinion, there are several reasons. First, we can all attest to the fact that many of our decisions can often be made, not on logic, but based on the principles of fear or greed. Second, as we learn and grow older, we are largely taught to do three things... and usually in this order; read, respond, and react. And third, usually when an investor watches a stock plummet down 50%, they begin to think that the inherent risk is actually increasing... and their loss potential could be much more than the 50% loss they have experienced thus far. They begin thinking irrational thoughts such as "this company could go out of business" or "the stock market might never stop going down". At this point, the real perceived risk is not the 50% loss, but rather losing more money... and possibly even 100%! The Good: In our early years of schooling we learned some valuable principles that would later, strangely enough, prove to be directly correlated to our investment success. For example, we learned basic things like "What goes up, must come down", and "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction", and finally, "For every uphill, there is a downhill". Although these principals seemed so inconsequential at the time, if we try to connect them to our investment example, I think we can come logically conclude that "Every Bear Market is followed by a Bull Market". I know this seems elementary and simple, but it becomes extremely difficult to apply these principles when we factor in losing money, the media, peer pressure and our emotions. The Beautiful: Now, let's assume history repeats itself yet again and a new and powerful Bull Market begins. As this Bull Market surges ahead for the next 12 months, our stock ascends from $50 back to our original purchase price of $100. If you do the math, as our $50 stock climbs back to $100, this is a gain of a whopping 100%! But here's the beautiful part. Although this stock has gained an amazing 100%, it doesn't have to stop there. Heck, this stock could continue to gain more and more...maybe 200%, 500%, or 1,000%! If you don't think that is possible, take a look at Warren Buffet's stock (BRKA), which is priced today at around $119,300. So hopefully you can see there are two important morals to this story:
Most so-called "investment experts" and authors will tell you that by investing in the stock market, you should never expect to have both low-risk and high-potential working together, hand-in-hand. And for the most part, this is a true statement.
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 February 2009 20:08 ) |
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