Think Like the Great Investors: Make Better Decisions and Raise Your Investing to a New Level

Chapter 28

Dealing with loss

One of the disadvantages of being an investment writer is that as soon as people find out what I do, they only want to talk to me about stocks. I find that they fall into three categories.

The first, and most disagreeable group, are those who want to regale me with stories of their investments or their investing methods. These are always about their winning investments and are designed to show how clever they are. I try to listen and smile. I smile, because I know that in a drawer somewhere is a pile of papers that evidence all their losing investments.

The second group are those who seem to think I am a guru and that somehow I can bless them with the power to make untold riches without effort. They want me to predict the stock market and to give them stock tips. Unfortunately, they are still looking for magical solutions. No matter what I say, I am always left with the feeling that they think I am keeping the secrets to myself.

The third group are the ones I want to talk about in this chapter. These are the ones who have made investments that have turned out badly and they want to know what to do with them. This is the only one of the three groups to whom I might be able to offer constructive ideas.

Some of the people in this group have only one or two stocks. They were often acquired through their employment or a popular flotation such as Telstra ...