Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of August 27, 2013?

Article Excerpt

Learning what not to do can be the hardest and costliest part of an investor’s education. Recently I got in a conversation about investing with a 35-year-old engineer. Like a lot of engineers, he was interested in technical analysis—the practice of trying to figure out what a stock or the market will do next by studying trading patterns and history. He asked what I thought of the technical approach. I told him I was quite interested in that subject when I got my first job in investing, at age 16. But I explained that the more time I spent on technical analysis, the more limited it seemed. I still look at stock price charts every day, and always before buying, selling or recommending any stock. A stock chart carries a lot of information. But I see charts as just one of many things you can use that can give you a little more insight into a stock’s history and outlook. Focusing on…