Forget watching share prices and buying single stocks. It’s time consuming, risky and there’s a better way.
Do you check share prices daily looking for the next hot stock? You’re not alone.
If you were to ask retirees what their life investment game-plan looked like throughout, most replies would be:
Step 1: Find a financial advisor recommended by a friend or family member
Step 2: Give money to the financial advisor to build nice stock portfolio
Step 3: Happily pay advisor, platform and trading fees
Step 4: Check share prices daily, worry when they are down
Step 4: Accept 5-6% return because it’s better than bank savings rates
Step 5: Hang on and hope for the best
Some adventurous investor types may have built a DIY portfolio of blue chip and dividend single stocks. Good old dividend paying companies such as British Gas, Shell, Barclays, and Rolls Royce.
When you manage your own DIY stock portfolio, not only will you spend countless hours checking share prices and worrying, you may be bitten by the stock trading bug.
Here’s how the bug affects us.
Our financial alter-ego genius is constantly trying to fool us into thinking we know something about the stock market others don’t. We attempt to miraculously time the market by checking share prices and trying to buy low and sell high.
Many times after we sell a stock, we are struck by remorse when said stock rises 5% the day after sale. The same remorse washes over us when we buy shares and the prices drop by 5% the very next day.
It’s as if the stock market Gods are mocking and punishing us for making the wrong decisions at the wrong times. How can it be that a stock drops 10% despite beating its earning estimates? We even spent time pouring over the financial reports, just like the professional traders do.
Unfortunately there is no preventative vaccine for the stock traders bug.
Onward we continue until the inevitable day arrives where we buy shares, only to find the market in correction free-fall (remember March 2020?). Next comes the irrational doomsday “the market will never rebound” thinking, followed by panic selling for a loss.
This is called emotional investing and if you can relate, you are not alone. I dare to say anyone who owns stocks has experienced this, myself included.
While our stock picking effort might strike gold on occasion, buying single company stocks is extremely risky. Only those with a truly disciplined buy and hold mentality can survive the single stock investment roller coaster. The most successful passive investors avoid checking share prices. In fact they sometimes elect not receive monthly statements and only check their portfolios once a year. in order to risk re-balance as needed. This passive strategy removes emotions.
Millions of people saw their retirements flushed away when they panic sold stocks in 2008-2010 and March 2020. If they had avoided checking share prices and reading the news, they would have held onto their stocks and their portfolios would now be worth more now than ever.
Read How the Worlds Worst Market Timer Succeeded Buying at the Worst Times
Company mismanagement can also sink the stock price. All it takes is one company cock up and your beloved share can flush years of gains down the toilet. Yes I’m talking about you VW, Mitsubishi, Enron, Lumber Liquidators, Northern Rock, Neil Woodford etc etc.
Let’s look at a few examples of some darling stocks which have quickly fallen from favour.
Apple began trading in the 1980’s at $0.11 (if only we knew). Accounting for stock splits, Apple traded at $31 in 2015, then fell to $23 in June 2016. Apple stock at that time had generally fallen out of favour with the public yet it roared back with vengeance and now trades at a little under $200 in July 2023. Even during Apple’s price suppression, the company posted strong profits, had low price to earnings ratio and keept more cash than most countries reserves. Yet still the stock price has experienced periods of rerpession..
Financial company Aberdeen Asset Management is trading down 37% from April 2015-2016. Looks like they’ll need to raise invest fees management fees to raise profits.
Lloyds Bank, the English banking staple, once traded at £6 per stocks and now trades 89% lower at under 70 pence per stock.
Chipotle, America’s $12bn burrito company traded at $700 per stocks in October 2015. E-coli struck a tiny portion of their restaurants and people got food poising. Consequently the stock suffered falling to $400 in January 2016 and now sits at $442 in April 2016.
Mitsubishi motor cars is currently trading at $4.68 after it admitted fudging its emissions numbers for 25 years. The stock once traded at $13 in August 2013. That represents a loss of 64%!
If Mitsubishi was in your portfolio, chances are your financial advisor has sold the stock at a loss and charged you a nice fee for doing so. If you own it in your DIY portfolio, you’ve probably considered panic selling.
Several studies concluded that 92%+ of average amateur stock pickers lose money through mistiming, fees and poor emotional decisions. If most Wall Street professionals can’t time the market correctly, how could an amateur?
If your reading this article feeling depressed, don’t worry you’re not alone. I’ve made the same mistakes and paid my stupid tax. Before I knew better I bought Apple stocks at $115 (currently $104), and bought Shell at £18.57 and sold at £16.94. I also bought AT&T at $30 and sold at $36, bought Verizon at $42 and sold at $50, and bought American Tobacco at £38.25 and sold at £40.65.
Why am I telling you this? When I purchased these stocks, I told myself I would buy and hold for 20+ years. But suddenly I was bitten by the stock traders bug and sold because I thought the market was overpriced and I was some kind of genius trader. My solid game plan was quickly overtaken by emotions.
The average stock portfolio could look something like this:
In the above example, some stocks have grossly outperformed and some have underperformed. Factor in trading and platform fees and it’s easy to understand you soon why picking single stocks is so difficult.
Throw in the emotional urge to check share prices daily and emotional buying and selling decisions, you can see why single stock portfolios are troublesome worrisome. Add financial advisor management fees and mistiming the market, now returns can really start to fall behind the indexes.
So what is the alternative?
Buy index trackers, keep buying and holding through the highs and the lows, collect dividends, experience the wonders of compounding interest, live happy and hopefully retire comfortably or maybe even rich.
Stop checking share prices and stop buying single company stocks. Also write an investing statement and stick it to your computer monitor, it will help fight off the stock traders bug.
– Laurence
Next read this: The Best Tracker Funds
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** Disclaimer: This information is for entertainment purposes only. This information is not financial advice and has been prepared without taking your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. You should consider its appropriateness for your circumstances. All investing carries risks. Opinions expressed in this review are opinions based on my own personal experiences. The FSCS does not cover peer to peer lending and your capital is at risk. Please don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. **
