I'll let Cramer's own words answer your post to provide some needed balance to your argument:
James J. Cramer
Those Four Little Words
By James J. Cramer
8/6/01 3:19 PM ET
URL: thestreet.com
"I changed my mind."
Are these four dangerous words? Or are they lifesavers? In politics, they are the kiss of death. Politicians who change their minds are flip-floppers. They have no backbone. They believe in nothing. And in stocks?
Changing one's mind sometimes is a necessity. Business is fluid, transient, fast and mercurial. Take 360networks. If you went into that investment thinking, "Greg Maffei's a moneymaker, and I am backing him to the hilt," and then you heard that the company was struggling and pricing was falling apart, you had to be able to switch directions. You have to be flexible. You have to be willing to say, "Hmmm, circumstances have changed, and as much as I like Maffei, I have to cut and run."
If the story changes, if something goes wrong, you have to be willing to adjust. Now that we are coming into football season, you will hear me switch metaphors. You have to be willing to call an audible when you see a new defense, or someone gets hurt or things go awry. You can't worry about what you said if the market has changed or the fundamentals have changed.
As I go into tonight's conference, I am well aware of the pitfalls of drawing the investment line in the sand. I know the dangers. Last year in February I gave a talk about stocks I thought could be winners. They rallied huge and then they hit the wall. I switched directions on the site and urged you to take money off the table as I was, but to listen to the critics, I had no right to change my mind. That wasn't cricket.
Wrong! What's cricket is doing the right thing when the fundamentals or circumstances change, and admitting it and coming clean to yourself -- and in my case, coming clean to you, the readers. That's all you can really ask for.
Consistency of method is more important than consistency of word. If your philosophy is to be flexible, if your philosophy is to take gains and cut losses when things have changed, you are betraying your philosophy if you don't.
That's bad business. I am a businessman, and I do what is necessary for my business of investments to work. Even if it seems inconsistent to those who would scrutinize it. I would rather be "inconsistent" and make money than be "consistent" and lose fortunes.That's the choice. I've made it. How about you? |
