Yes, life does not run via a script. We must deal with change and sorrow all our lives with whatever grace we can muster.
If you are a serious punter, and stocks are a pure gambol, no less that horse racing, you have to be very, very patient. Keep your powder dry. You can fiddle about with a spread portfolio which just means your losses even out a bit with your gains, or you can back yourself on a couple of big punts when you think the stars have aligned. There might be only a few slam-dunks in a year and even then you can get burnt.
I fiddled about with stocks for a while, lost a bit, made a bit, then came to the conclusion that this type of investing didn't work. I then hit 4 stocks in one year that were oversold, one battling a union, one an explosives company on the brink of a massive re-rate, one about to greatly benefit from the NBN. There was a medium sided oil company in PNG I bought a good number of for 75c a share that turned out to be the best of all. I put all my super and most of my personal money and borrowed money on the punt and retired 6 months later. My dear wife girded her loins for the bare-knuckle ride and it was all a bit like a dream.
That's life indeed, nobody gets out alive and numbers don't lie. I hoping for another 15 years, but I'll accept whatever I get. 15 years is 180 months and look how those months fly by.
