Investing isn’t always straightforward. What’s right for one investor may not be right for another, and even when it comes to the overarching principles that apply for most people, it can seem like there are a hundred rules to remember. Chances are you’ve managed to internalize some of them: Buy low and sell high. Keep your costs low. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
But consume enough financial media, and you’re bound to pick up some bad habits or dubious lines of thinking. Those don’t necessarily make you a financial fool, but it’s worth examining your investing habits and figuring out which might lead you to miss out on valuable gains, or register painful losses.
For example: “Trust your gut” is good advice in many walks of life, but probably not in investing.
“The biggest single misconception is that investors believe that they should follow their gut instincts about the short-term direction of the stock market,” says Keith Singer, a certified…
