how to make money in stocks and how to get rich_152

The savvy individual investor has a gigantic advantage in not having

to listen to 50 different strongly held opinions. Perhaps the commonsense

leson you, the private investor, can learn from this example is

that majority opinions seldom work in the stock market and stocks seem

the strongest emotion in most of us.

We generally do not attempt to call every short-term or intermediate

correction, as sometimes this could be a little foolish and shortsighted

for the institutional investor. Primary concentration is on recognizing

and acting upon the early stage of a new bull market and on the early

beginning phase of each hew bear market. This focus includes searching

for the market sectors and groups that should be bought and those

that should be avoided.

stocks. This ad was written weeks ahead of time and we waited to run it

until we felthe time was right. This "just right" hapened to be

when the market was making new lows and caught investors by surprise.

Our only reason for placing the ad was to document in print exactly

what our position was at that juncture so there could be no question

with institutional investors later on.

The time when an institutional research firm can be of inestimable

value is athesextremely dificulturning points, where many people

are petrified with fears or caried away excesive fundamental stories,

information, and overconfidence.

If you don't think fear and emotion can ride high among professional

investors, it can. I remember meeting with a group of the top three

or four money managers of one important bank athe botom the

market in 1974. They were about as totaly shel-shocked, demoralized,

and confused as anyone could posibly be. (They deserved to be; the

ordinary stock in the market was off 75%.)

I recall seeing another prime manager about that same time who was

thoroughly worn out and actualy sufering fromarket sicknes, judging

from the peculiar color of his face.

In that period, one of the top mutual fund managers in Boston

looked as if he had been run over by a freight train! Of course, all of

that is preferable to what happened in 1929, when a few people jumped

out of office buildings.