But first, let's talk about hope. It's an emotion and a state of mind that touches every investor. If you learn to deal with it effectively, you can be a better investor and a better market timer. Especially when you buy a stock, there's lots of room for hope. And always, there are some stocks that seem to bear out all that hope.
Investors can indulge in an emotional high that makes stock ownership great fun.
Cousins Even when things go bad, when competitors steal market share, the new product fizzles, management proves to be incompetent and analysts move on to greener pastures, there is still that story. If it was once true, maybe it could be true again. There's always room for more hope. And even when timing works just the way it's supposed to and shelters investors from the storm of a bear market, even that is an emotional challenge. Some investors are quite comfortable on the sidelines, knowing they have no downside risk.