The April 15, 2006 issue of "Bottom Line Personal" has an article, "Suprising Habits of Master Investors." The four legends mentioned in the article are Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn, George Soros, Sir John Templeton. The "habit" for each of them:
* Buffett - Infinite patience, the example given is Washington Post, and how the stock went down after he bought and he waited it out to huge profits.
* Icahn - Passionately avoid risk, the example is a real estate investment trust , Baird & Warner. Icahn valued the company at $20 a share and bought at $8.50, giving himself a wide margin of error.
* Templeton - Act Instantly, the example is how he sold short dot com stocks in 2000. The trigger for each was the end of the "lockup period" for insiders.
* Soros - Buy as much as you can, the example is Jaguar and how he put 5% of his assets into the one investment.
A friend of mine mentioned that their significant other is just getting into picking stocks. The one piece of investing advice I shared is that there are a thousand ways to make money in the stock market, find one that works for you. One that fits your personality and temperament. Some people like to shop for bargains. Others like the latest fashion. Some people like to look at financial statements, others at charts. There are successful investors and traders of all stripes. What works well for one person may fail for the next.
The good news is that my new brokerage account is finally ready to go. Time away from the market can be healthy.
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