My dumbest investment move was listening to Marc Faber, who predicted a market plunge. — D. Q., online
The Fool Responds: Some pundits and financial prognosticators are known for their sunny dispositions, while others, such as Dr. Faber, are more associated with gloom and doom. Each side can claim vindication when the market does what they predicted, but it often goes the other way, and you rarely hear about that. There are many folks suggesting they know what the market will do in the next few months or years, but no one knows or can know. What we do know is that over long periods of time, the market has gone up, but never in a straight line. There will always be occasional hiccups and drops, and each will have been predicted by one or more experts (who got other predictions wrong).
As long as you have plenty of investing years (or decades) ahead of you, consider just investing for the long haul in strong and growing companies, and staying the course during downturns. A simple broad-market index fund can serve you well, too, roughly matching the market’s returns.
Do you have an embarrassing lesson learned the hard way? Boil it down to 100 words (or less) and send it to The Motley Fool c/ o My Dumbest Investment. Got one that worked? Submit to My Smartest Investment. If we print yours, you’ll win a Fool’s cap!
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