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Bob Farrell’s 10 rules for investing
Today, I would again like to focus on words of investment wisdom that are timeless and especially appropriate as investors grapple with the difficult juncture at which stock markets find themselves at this stage. Wall Street “gurus” come and go, but in the case of Bob Farrell legendary status was achieved. He spent several decades as chief stock market analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. and had a front-row seat at the go-go markets of the late 1960s, mid-1980s and late 1990s, the brutal bear market of 1973-74, and the October 1987 crash. Farrell retired in 1992, but his famous “10 Market Rules to Remember” have lived on and are summarized below, courtesy of The Big Picture (August 2008) and MarketWatch (June 2008). 1. Markets tend to return to the mean over time 2. Excesses in one direction will lead to an excess in the opposite direction 3. There are no new eras – excesses are never permanent As the fever builds, a chorus of “this time it’s different” will be heard, even if those exact words are never used. And of course, it – human nature – is never different. 4. Exponential rapidly rising or falling markets usually go further than you think, but they do not correct by going sideways 5. The public buys the most at the top and the least at the bottom 6. Fear and greed are stronger than long-term resolve 7. Markets are strongest when they are broad and weakest when they narrow to a handful of blue-chip names 8. Bear markets have three stages – sharp down, reflexive rebound and a drawn-out fundamental downtrend 9. When all the experts and forecasts agree – something else is going to happen Going against the herd, as Farrell repeatedly suggests, can be very profitable, especially for patient buyers who raise cash from frothy markets and reinvest it when sentiment is darkest. 10. Bull markets are more fun than bear markets Sources: The Big Picture, 17 August, 2008 and MarketWatch, June 11, 2008.
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