Collection: Peter Lynch - #61 | 10 Most Dangerous Things People Say About Stocks PART 10/10
[Transcript]
PETER LYNCH
10 most dangerous things people say about stocks.
[#10] Avoid long shots.
You know, this is stock that are going to grow hair and make your kid have better spelling, your breasts can improve and you don't have to iron your pants and it's one of those stocks, they always do everything for you. But they're missing, they don't have any sales yet, you know, that's missing element. The story is sensational, there's no profit yet, no sales yet, but my God if this works, it's going to be the next Xerox, you know, and it's going to help birds, space... It's a very, very good deal.
Now this is not a long shot, this is a no shot. You have to separate these out. I've tried 30 of these, I have never broken-even on a long shot. Never.
I'd made 25-30 times my money on some stocks. I never thought about Sallie Mae or MBIA or Fannie Mae or some of the banks or Stop & Shop, I make 20 times my money, 30 times my money. I had no idea, I thought the stocks are going north. I had no idea, you look back 10 years later, you say, my God, I made a lot of money on this thing. But once I went into thinking I could make 4 times my money, I've never broken-even.
So don't do the long shots guys, they don't work. It simply don't work.
And again if a stock is $3 and it has huge potential, write down the story, take the stock symbol. If it's going to $300, it's okay to buy it at $15.
Check it later, check it a year later, see if it's still listed, see if it still get quote on it, see if there's still any earnings yet. But if it's going, write the story down. Some of these work, I haven't heard yet but maybe they will work, but it's worth tuning in six months later. Don't buy it then.
(Source: https://www.c-span.org/video/?90525-1/investing-stock-market)
[YAPSS Takeaway]
Avoid the unicorn that sells promising dream and story.
If a unicorn is truly great, it's okay to buy it later. It's better to be safe than missing out.
