In the end you stand alone

BULLBOARDS, BLOGS AND BULL RUNS

Not long ago brokers would meet and discuss companies they felt would be a good investment short or long term and the notion that a discussion board would contribute to a growing sense of value was a new concept. Brokers and trading houses used an inner circle of information that sniffed out bargains in the particular sector they were interested in. The chat rooms were thought to contain more misinformation and rumor with little fact based material.

The mainstream thinking as far as a bull run can be somewhat predicted now by the amount of attention a particular stock is getting in the media or chat rooms. Although no chat room gossip should be used to formulate your retirement plans it can be a good launch point to do research that would then form a base for your investment decisions. Even brokers will sometimes phone me and talk about the recent rumors surrounding a particular deal or drill program. In this market you have to pull out all the stops and go with any and all information available to try to make money it seems.

  " to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail "

Not only has the global market shifted but the growing sentiment that any gain is a good gain pushes some investors to run hard and fast at the sign of an uptick. So many times you hear people talk about how much money they left on the table with a recent sell-off. A knee jerk reaction can lead to a long period of sellers remorse and after all the selling is done you then start to question why you sold such a great stock. I often tell people that it makes no sense to discourage people from selling a good stock because there is usually someone you know looking to add to their position. That someone could be me. I always keep calm and level headed and don't like pushing the panic button. If you hint to someone it's time to sell they will likely miss out on an amazing run. Conversely if you mention to someone that maybe they should hold off from selling, fate would then cause a collapse or permanent halt on that stock and now you helped cause that investor to lose money. It's always best to keep advice to yourself and opinions close to your chest.

I think people inherently want someone else to blame for their decisions to buy or sell. No one makes the right decision 100% of the time. It's easy to second guess what would have happened after an event has already occurred. Did you review all the factors that pushed you to the position you are in now? This is why so many fund managers and brokers try to offer information and guidance but don't really want to push you in one direction or another unless it's very obvious whats about to happen. Even the most obvious investment choice can turn out to be wrong though.

I think we are slowly starting to see a shift in the North American markets. More money seems to be hitting the TSX and TSX-V in my opinion. This cash is not really new, it was merely parked on the sidelines. Some are still waiting for a sign that things have changed and the tide is now shifting. While others have started to position themselves in the next big thing that the market will fall in love with. For all the answers you have to dig deep and keep focused on your own investment priorities. Set your goals and stick to them. Take your wins when you feel the time is right and not when people are suggesting you do. You hold the power to create your own wealth and set your own financial security heading into 2014. In the end you stand alone.