What are your thoughts about frequency of “adjusting” your investments in your portfolio? Do you think you should constantly be doing something? As we have all heard, timing is everything, or is it?
One of the most successful traders of all time, Jesse Livermore, said the following things about timing. I have also added some of Brian Keller’s frequent remarks to get all of you thinking.
1. ” Money is made by sitting, not trading.” “Be an investor, not a trader and you will make more $.” Brian Keller
2. “It takes time to make money.” Jesse Livermore “Creating wealth is a journey, not a 40-yard dash.” Brian Keller)
3. “It was never my thinking that made the big money for me, it always was the sitting.” Jesse Livermore
4. “Nobody can catch all the fluctuations.” Jesse Livermore
5. “The desire for constant action irrespective of underlying conditions is responsible for many losses on Wall Street even among professionals, who feel that they must take home some money everyday, as though they were working for regular wages.” Jesse Livermore
6. “Buy right, sit tight.” Jesse Livermore “Buy low, have patience, sell high.” Brian Keller
7. “Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon.” Jesse Livermore
8. “Don’t give me timing, give me time.” Jesse Livermore
9. “There is a time for all things, but I didn’t know it. And that is precisely what beats so many men at Wall Street who are very far from in the main sucker class. There is the plain fool, who does the wrong thing at all times everywhere, but there is the Wall Street fool, who things he must trade all the time. Not many can always have adequate reasons for buying and selling stocks daily-or sufficient knowledge to make his play an intelligent play.” Jesse Livermore
In the end, Jesse was undone by not following his own trading rules (following tips from others or trading when he should have abstained).
This is one of the reasons why we are going to starting to dive into creating your own investing strategy and rules. Creating a solid and individualized investing strategy will help you become the most successful investor you can be.