Now THAT I can agree with completely.I often get asked about...

Now THAT I can agree with completely.

I often get asked about "tips" and investment advisers. Normally I tell the story about a certain "Investment Newsletter" who picked Miller's Retail (MRL, now SFH) as their sole "Strong Buy" a few years ago.

What this means is, in the entire stock market, this was the stand-out stock for them, the one MOST likely to go up. Well - it crashed 60 or 70% from the point they had it as a "Strong Buy". This was well before the GFC, by the way. The market was UP quite a bit in the meantime.

In my view, an expert is permitted to make mistakes. This, however, is a mistake of such gigantic proportions that the persons making the claim are henceforth disqualified from calling themselves "expert".

I mean, if an expert gives you a "Strong Buy" recommendation, an acceptable mistake is that the stock only goes up 5% in a year, or even holds steady. That is an "expert mistake". To see their stand-out stock crash badly, and UNDERperform 95% of all stocks - beggars belief.


So - to all newbies out there - DO NOT listen to analysts or investment advisers!! You have to do your own research.

That way, you get to kick YOURSELF in the pants when you mess up :-)