Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat's commentary for the week of March 6, 2012?

Article Excerpt

At first glance, some bad investor habits seem sensible, even conservative. One of the most common is to hold off on buying stocks “until things settle down.” The funny thing is that the urge to hold off on buying becomes much more common just when we’re close to a great buying opportunity. Last fall, for instance, the Greek debt drama was very much in the news. Analyses of the situation always included predictions that a Greek default would spark a broad collapse elsewhere in the eurozone. This rattled a lot of investors. Many felt the situation was too uncertain to justify any buying, so they decided to hold off until things settled down. The downbeat predictions continued into the early months of 2012. Oddly enough, as the situation changed from unsettled to somewhat settled, the stock market rose 20% or more in the U.S., and 15% in Canada. Instead of avoiding losses, those who stayed out of the unsettled market missed out…