With the recent Bitcoin mania some of the newer investors in the markets have been trading on emotion. This is understandable. However, it is often unwise, resulting in trades which resemble gambling more than investment.
With Bitcoin increasing in price and a large majority of the alt coins decreasing in price and losing their value. Some investors have been buying and selling based on the mania rather than basing their decisions on rational thinking and analysis.
Fear and greed are particularly dangerous emotions when investing. People will sell once they see an investment not doing well fairly consistently (being in the “red) or when they check their portfolio and unexpectedly witness a sea of red (most investments declining in value). Fear and greed must be overcome if an investor is to maximise their portfolio gains. There are two common fears for traders and investors. Fear of losing and fear of missing out (FOMO). Some investments may trade in the negative at times, this is the nature of the markets. That said, investing purely due to a fear of missing out can be dangerous if not acted on rationally. Greed is connected to FOMO and leads investors to buy in the middle or end of an upswing, after which there is often eventually a downturn which may last a varying amount of time. Rational investments don’t rise exponentially for long.
Buy when you notice a sea of red sell, when the investment reaches new heights… or you can just hold… or should that be hodl.
As mentioned in a previous article*. Where possible it is ideal to buy when prices are low. That said this idea is a simplification of matters.
Investment columnist Jason Zweig states that investors who put their emotions aside have a tendency to have the most success. Referencing Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Stating that they are “inversely emotional” and alluding to the idea that they may use market emotions to their advantage. “Nothing is as poisonous to rational investing as making a massive amount of money,” Zweig added. It is particularly important for long term investors to not act on emotions as some currencies such as Bitcoin have collapsed and “rocketed” numerous times.
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