Lynch writes, If you give up on a stock because you re tired of...

Lynch writes, If you give up on a stock because you re tired of waiting for something wonderful to happen, then something will begin to happen, the day after you get rid of it. I call this post divestiture flourish. Lynch discussed Merck, which went nowhere from 1972 to 1981, even though earnings grew steadily at an average rate of 14% a year. Who knows how ma ny investors got out of Merck because they were tired of waiting. If they kept up on the story, th ey wouldn t have sold. It shot up fourfold in the next five years. It takes remarkable patience to hold onto a stock in a compan y that excites you, but which everybody else seems to ignore."