So in a nutshell I told him to stay away from this stock. Nevertheless he went ahead and took some exposure in the stock, as the seduction of making quick bucks was very high. Exactly 3 days down the line this stock is 18% down with 10% being knocked off in 1 day. He was now skeptical about making equity investments with the losses suffered in a couple of days. He blamed the stock markets as well as others for his misfortune, but at the same time wanted to participate in the growth of the Capital Markets and our economy.
However, never ever did this friend ponder over the mistake he had committed. I bet there are plenty of people who are guilty of committing the same mistake or others, but never get down to really understand what went wrong and try to learn from their mistakes.
So what are the important lessons for people wanting to create wealth through equities? The cardinal rule is to make as few big mistakes as possible.
Though the list can be pretty long, here are seven common mistakes people make when investing in equities and that you should stay away from.
Mistake No 1: The first and biggest mistake is not to admit making a mistake
People stubbornly hold on to stocks where they are making sizeable losses in the belief that they can exit when the price reaches their buying price. Most of the minds are not trained to acknowledge the fact that they have made a mistake and probably the best thing is to move on. There was this gentleman who had bought a "penny stock" at Rs. 9 following a tip and hoping that it would double in a few months.
The stock first rose by 20% and then declined by almost 40%. He was unwilling to let go of the position with the belief that he will do so only when the price reaches his buy price and it will happen sometime soon. The gentleman is still holding on to the stock and the stock has lost a further 40%. He could have exited the stock with a loss of just 28% initially (considering the appreciation of 20%). Now his losses are around 56% and he is still holding the stock. This happened in October 2005. Even several blue chip stocks have actually doubled or tripled since then.
Mistake No 2: Buy on tips and khabars and wanting to make a quick buck
Technology has made our lives much easier but at the same time has caused a lot of overload as well. We are subject to SMSes , emails and flyers with lucrative offers for "buy and sell tips", commodities trading etc. that at the end of the day leave you confused. In this state only two things can happen, (a) One is that you procrastinate and not take any action with the fear of screwing it up and (b) Succumb to these offers for making you rich quickly.
The point that I am trying to make is that how people who are conservative or sane can take dangerous calls and sabotage their own well being. I remember having met this conservative gentleman who was targeting only 12% returns but still could not resist the stock market temptation when the broker called and showed him some tantalizing figures.
Mistake No 3: Buying a loser on its way down thinking you are averaging your costs
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