Andrew Page

Knowing when to buy is certainly a tough decision, but I’d argue that knowing when to sell is even more difficult.

Towards the end of 2007 both the Australian and US share markets were trading at record highs, but as we know both proceeded to halve in value over the following 15 months as investors dumped shares throughout the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

There are a number of clichés associated with the various months of the year, and what we tend to observe on the market in those periods.

They say you learn more from losing than succeeding, and while that is probably of little solace to those in the market, there is certainly some truth to it.

All disciplines are beset by various fallacies, but it’s reasonable to say that economics suffers more than most.

A common recitation of late is to ‘buy on the dips’, and indeed in upward trending markets this certainly seems to be a wise policy.

I was asked the other day whether, as a long term investor, I paid much attention to interest rate moves. Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer was ‘not really’.

The events of the past couple of years can largely be attributed to one thing: debt. Or more specifically, too much of it. But that isn’t to say that debt is a bad thing.

When it comes to investing in the stock market there are a wide variety of approaches to choose from, yet at the end of the day the motive is always the same: profit.

Last week I argued that, for investors with a long term view, the most desirable market direction was anything but up, at least for the time being.