BAL price target $12, page-174

It was Friday 31st Dec 1999. A close friend of mine and a fellow share trader was getting bit anxious and nervous about the Y2K. He strongly believed in a tech company but was too scared to hold their shares over the weekend. He was very reluctant to sell his shares and asked me for my opinion. I was not fully convinced about the Y2K threats and told him that the world is not going to end. Sit tight and calm your nerves and don't sell out.

We were both at our brokers office and towards the close of trading he decided to place a sell order for his 50 shares in the tech company. I was sitting next to him and I told the broker that I will take those shares. The broker issued us the trade tickets. It saved us a few dollars on commissions.

During the weekend everything went well. On Monday 3rd January the market went crazy and that stock went up more than 10%. For me it was a short term trade and I was very happy to sell those shares at a decent profit. My friend never bought back those 50 shares.

I met him three years ago and we had a few drinks. He is a multi millionaire now and he still remembers that trade from 31st December 1999 and calls it one of his worst mistakes ever. He had sold his Apple shares.

I am not suggesting BAL is comparable to Apple. I am emphasizing on the importance of the fact that some times it is best to ignore all the negative talk and sit tight.

Apple is a brand. Coke is a brand. Brand is really important. BAL has a brand which is still in vogue.

Ignore all the negative talk for a short period of time. Just need to sit tight and ride out the storm.