Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of June 12, 2018

Article Excerpt

The surest long-term profits go to those who choose stocks from the middle of the risk spectrum—not too aggressive, but also not too “safe.” (I put the word in quotation marks, to stress that investment safety is a matter of opinion.) Many investors say they usually agree with this idea, at least in respect to aggressive stocks. But they feel it only applies in normal times and normal situations. They may disregard the rule in what they see as exceptional circumstances, such as when they feel they have spotted an aggressive investment idea with extraordinary potential. Unfortunately, one key fact about aggressive stocks is that the results they provide exhibit a high degree of randomness. Sometimes they live up to investors’ high expectations. Other times, because of the random factor, they turn out to be bitter disappointments. You need to keep that in mind, no matter how much exceptional potential they seem to offer. Investments that are widely viewed as safe also blow up in investors’…