Wednesday, October 1, 1997
Accidental Wealth
by Terry Christopher
([email protected])
Invest in what you know.
That's the recommendation of more than one successful investor. Not surprising. After all, isn't it easier to spot a counterfeit if you are familiar with the real thing? But let's face it folks, we're not all experts on everything. Does that mean that only widget experts should make the big bucks when the widget sector booms? Of course not! In fact, in these situations, investing produces a guaranteed return. What!? A guaranteed return. Isn't it illegal to say that? Not at all, because the return I'm talking about is not in dollars, it's in knowledge.
I have only been researching stocks for two months now, and already I have learned that oil and gas exploration in Canada occurs during winter months when the ground is frozen, how a rapid refund works, and the difference between a Yankee auction and a Dutch auction. I have been a rail baron, a restauranteur, and an accountant, and it is with childlike enthusiasm that I make-believe I am each.
Stock market research can be a monotonous sifting of financial data or an adventure into one of the many unchosen paths that everyone passes by in his life. Sure, some paths head in the wrong direction, some are bumpy roads, and some just end with no warning at the edge of a cliff. But some will be long and winding highways that get wider, smoother, and faster with each passing milestone.
The trick is to head a short way down each road, check out the scenery, look ahead with as skilled an eye as possible, and decide if it's time for a ride. How often will these terrific roads appear? Not often, but you get to see a lot of scenery, and when the scenery is knowledge, you and everyone around you is made wealthier.
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