Don't Marry your Stock

Ever heard of the modern day Ant and the Grasshopper story?

“One day, a tiny ant, was seen busily digging up the earth, preparing for her a cosy anthill, for the approaching winter. She toiled through the summer season, selecting a nice little corner for her anthill, where the mud was loose and amenable and big human feet would be far away. She set at her task through night and day, tirelessly. Near her slowly growing anthill, was a tree on which a grasshopper lived. But, he was a wanderer. He flew to warmer climes when the winter draught crept in and lived off the blades of grass and berries of whichever land he happened to be.

As he watched the ant, building her home, he felt sorry for her. He knew that a day would come when the poor ant's anthill would be wiped off. And sure enough, it happened. A few days later, a huge lawn mower came to the park and a heap of grass was flung right atop the ant's anthill! The poor ant was crushed to death along with her anthill. The grasshopper mourned her for a day and then flew on…"

One of the first lessons to be learned in the investment game is to, move here and there. Look for greener pastures to feed on. If you hold on to your stocks for long, the likelihood is that when the crash comes, it will wipe out everything you have built!

Don’t marry your stock. Avoid putting down roots. They impede motion. (Zurich Axiom 6)

Be ready to jump away from trouble or seize opportunity. You do not have to bounce from one speculation to another like a ping-pong ball. All your moves should be made only after a careful assessment of the odds for and against, and no move should be made for trivial reasons. But when a venture is clearly souring, or when something clearly more promising comes into view, then you must sever those roots and go. Don’t let the roots get too thick to cut.