They succeed in bull markets and fail miserably the other two-thirds of time because they follow instead of lead. Achieving superior investment results requires some free thinking and diligent work. Investors typically buy a stock or fund because it performed well in the past , not for sound fundamental reasons substantiating future value. The tendency is to project indefinitely into the future what has happened in the past, defying the reality of economic expansion and contraction, ergo, a rising and falling stock market. I own a mutual fund which can only increase in value if the market goes up, therefore I must believe that stocks prices will only move higher.
Stocks always go up.
Ten times out of ten, proponents of that blind approach have a vested interest in encouraging investors to ignore risk. Measurable predictability of human behavior makes that possible, especially in today's 'institutionalized market', wherein lots of money is thinking and acting the same way, creating those 'momentum turning points and surges' that Precise Buy Signals so accurately identifies. Now, at Dow 10,000, it's more important than ever to understand, appreciate and respect risk and to implement an effective plan for this new market environment - a strategy that provides protection from risk and an opportunity to continue earning profits regardless of market direction. It is true that as one segment of the market declines another rises. That is true more so now than ever with fund specialization.