"That includes most so-called professionals."
"Of course I have been doing this for over 30 years now."
Note to self...
Don't invest with The Rabbi....
I am not a professional. Just an experienced amateur.
I am curious, though, at what you're really trying to say.
As I noted, I put an extreme amount of research into the stocks I was looking at before I ever bought them. At the same time, I was putting half of my money into mutual funds. I earned about the same amount of money from both; in both cases I made some percentage points higher than the 'averages' told me I should have.
I put far more research into the stocks than I did the mutual funds. I think what you're trying to say is that I should have done far better in my stocks than the mutual funds simply based on the nitty gritty P&L and Beta and all that other mumbojumbo research I did.
I will tip you in on something, though. At the time I considered the purchases, Microsoft was still touted to be a good buy, and looked to be a good buy, both by the professionals and by the research I did.
Time Warner, on the other hand, was quite a bit more of a risk in the time frame that I purchased. They were quite directionless.
The well researched sure bet has turned out to be a dog, and the risky maneuver ended up netting me something close to $50,000.
I don't understand why people are having trouble interpreting my fairly simple points.
What kind of "research" did you do on Microsoft before you bought it? What kinds of considerations led you to buy it? Who exactly was "touting" the stock, and on what basis? Just because a company is well run and profitable with good prospects does not make the stock a good buy.
Just because the company is well run and profitable does not make the stock a good buy (this was not a typo).
GE was a terrible buy at $60 a share in 1999 and a great buy at $28 a share in 2001. It isnt the quality of the company but the value you get. No one would argue that a SIG P210 isn't a good handgun--maybe among the best made. But that doesnt make it worth $5,000. But if you found one for $500 in great condition I doubt anyone would turn it down. Stocks are about the same.
