Research on these projections shows that they are usually about 40 percent higher than what reality turns out to be. It's not that the people making the projections are off base, rather that they are looking at all the great plans and potential and not the complications that can occur. Wishful thinking shows itself when a stock is bought and the price goes down. However, any particular stock has been bought by thousands of people at hundreds of different prices, and there is no way the stock is committed to return to one of the prices rather than the others. Anyway, the question really is not whether the stock may return at some point, but is this the best place to get the best return.
People are very concerned about whether they have a profit or a loss in a stock they own.
Yet the selling decision should not depend on that. If it's going to be a bad investment, it's time to sell regardless of what the cost price was. Consider yourself of normal competence as an investor and look for normal results, not something tremendous and unusual. Psychological-emotional factors are almost always complications that cause calm, reasoned decision making to deteriorate. Understanding your emotions and consistently using NAIC stock study tools and procedures can help you make independent, objective judgments and improve investment results.