"Dwelling on macro issues seems to lead most people into a paralysis of analysis. And I can't see how most people who aren't economists or market pros can sort out the macro data any better than they can analyze individual company fundies."
Dale, I think that is very well put. In my opinion, 90% of people should just be buying a fund like the one that was just mentioned, or a DODGX, or an index fund like VTSMX, or an index trust stock, month in and month out. They will end up with loads of money at retirement over a lifetime of doing that. 90% of the remaining 10% should focus on buying stocks in companies with good prospects and good management, at good prices, and just hold them so long as the company they presumably understood well enough to want to own performs according to their expectations, does not get very overpriced, or a better idea doesn't come along. The remaining 1% might have the ability to try to do it all and understand the macro economic picture, the very important psychological factors, and integrate it with their individual stock selection. |
