Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: I am wondering why you don’t include target prices for the stocks you recommend?

Article Excerpt

A: Investors sometimes ask us why we don’t publish price targets on the stocks we recommend in our newsletters and investment services. Focusing on targets puts too much emphasis on predictions. We don’t publish targets for several reasons. The main one is that they may lead investors to rely too heavily on predictions, which are the least reliable part of the investment decision-making process. Big bets on predictions or opinions will always produce inconsistent results. That’s why successful investors recognize that predictions are of limited use in investing profitably. Instead, we continue to recommend that you focus on investment quality and diversify by following our three-pronged investing philosophy. (See below for more on how this strategy can help you improve your stock market trading profits and lower your risk.) Selling too early can cause you to miss out on some big stock market trading gains. Another drawback of price targets is that they can spur investors to quit buying or even sell their best picks way…