Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of March 18, 2015

Article Excerpt

One of the costliest mistakes you can make as an investor is to sell your best stocks too soon. This mistake comes in two main varieties: Routinely re-balancing your portfolio—that is, selling stocks you own that have gone up, and using the proceeds to buy more of stocks that have gone down. Selling your best stock selections for small gains—taking a 25% or 50% profit on a stock when it’s just starting out on a rise that could ultimately produce a 250% or 500% gain. The recent rise in the U.S. dollar tempts many investors to make this mistake, one way or the other or both. As the first variety, we’ve long advised investors to invest 20% to 25% or more of their portfolios in U.S. stocks. If you followed that advice, U.S. stocks could now make up 40% to 50% or even more of your portfolio, depending on which stocks (Canadian and U.S.) you bought, and when you bought them. This may…