How Not to Invest

I noticed this commercial for Oppenheimer Funds. I highlight it because this is a common way inexperienced investors go about investing. They think, what will be big in the future? Let’s invest in it.

No.

The Big New Thing is often a terrible, terrible investment. Even if it pans out, there will be gobs of competitors. Check out this page listing the number of defunct American car companies. This sounds counterintuitive but don’t worry so much about what a company does. Worry, instead, about how well they do it.

In 1990, would a fund company have made an ad suggesting people get in the ground floor of Spam? I somehow doubt it.

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Why has Hormel done so well? Because it’s a well-run business.

Posted by on April 29th, 2016 at 8:30 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.