The ins and outs … of price targets

Article Excerpt

Investors sometimes ask us why we don’t publish price targets on the stocks we recommend in our newsletters and investment services. After all, most brokers do. We don’t publish targets for several reasons. The main one is that they may lead investors to rely too heavily on predictions, which are the least reliable part of the investment decision-making process. Big bets on predictions or opinions will always produce inconsistent results. That’s why successful investors recognize that predictions are of limited use in investing profitably. Another drawback of price targets is that they can spur investors to quit buying or even sell their best picks way too early. By definition, your best picks are those that do way better than you ever expected—and you need to hang on to your best performers for years. Targets also tend to push up your stock market trading activity and commission expense. That’s because they give you a rationale for selling whenever a stock you own hits its target…