Market Truisms from the "R" Man

You see, the stock market tends be counter-intuitive. In most businesses, your intuition, even your emotions, can be of great value. But in the stock market, your emotions will steer you wrong. Even your intuition can be your worst enemy. The best moves are often in direct opposition to how you feel. In fact, it's been said that if you're buying stocks and you're not sweating, if you're not dealing with fear, then you're probably buying at the wrong time. The great buys are executed when every nerve in your body is telling you to stay out, to beware of the stock market.

This counter-intuitive feature is the main reason why so few people are successful in the investing business. They buy wrong, and they sell wrong.

- Richard Russell, Dow Theory Letters, June 16, 2008