Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of April 9, 2013?

Article Excerpt

When investors base buy and sell decisions on short-term market forecasts, they often experience notably poor investment results, or even lose money. This may come as a shock to them. In hindsight, it may seem that past market trends, up or down, should have been easy to foresee. But in fact, nobody consistently foresees these trends. That’s why most investors hurt their returns if they let short-term market forecasts have much of an impact on their investment decisions. This year, investors may feel tempted to follow the long-time saying that you should, “Sell in May and go away.” This saying is based on the observation that, over the years, stock prices have often gone sideways or dropped between May and October. This year, the sell-in-May rule may seem particularly timely. The market was stronger this year than many observers expected, so they may see it as over-due for a setback. The problem with this kind of analysis is that it…