Wednesday, November 18, 2009

MISSING THE BOAT

Now that the stock market has moved convincingly into its bullish phase, there is no lack of comment or lament by some investors that somehow they may have 'missed the boat'. If they think they have missed buying shares when there were being sold at rock bottom prices at the height of the economic crisis, then obviously they have 'missed the boat' as defined in their own terms. However if they feel frustrated for having missed the great buying opportunity in those dark, gloomy days of yesteryear, they have more specifically missed the point of the whole investment game.

To begin with, the stock market is always there for anyone to jump in and if you don't get into the boat yesterday or day before yesterday, you can always get in today. The boat is always there for anyone to get in and out and there is no way anyone can stop an investor from getting in, provided he has an interest in getting in and he has the money to by his way in. Nobody therefore, should consider himself 'missing the boat' because it is the future of stocks that an investor should be looking at and not brood about the past that is long gone and there is nothing that anybody can do to bring it back.

The stock market bottoms of 1998 and 2008 are seen as buying opportunities of a lifetime only because we have the wisdom of hindsight. Many of the market participants who went through the baptism of fire that time, were either too cash strapped to buy much or too fearful that the market has yet to hit the bottom. Most of us are wiser after the event but in the midst of personally experiencing a major episode such as a stock market crash or a super bull run, our emotions could exert a stronger influence on our decisions than our rational self. This is quite a natural phenomenon and that is why we have the repeated behavior of investors that gives rise to stock market cycles.

KHAIRUL IDZWAN IDRIS

Timbalan Pengerusi
Biro Ekonomi Dan Pembangunan Usahawan
Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO Bahagian Setiawangsa
Wilayah Persekutuan

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