Mark Twain – “October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks…”

by Alvin on October 12, 2008

Mark Twain
Mark Twain

From his novel, Pudd’nhead Wilson“October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.”

Haha, yet another witty phrase from Mark Twain. Given the recent thumping in the stock market (Oct 08), I bet your attention was grabbed by Mark Twain’s quote; thinking that he has some insights on the dangerous months to speculate in stocks. In actual fact, he is trying to tell you that every month is dangerous as long as you speculate.

I always have a clear definition for speculation – When investing, if you do not know what you are doing, you are speculating. It does not matter whether you are buying value stocks, growth stocks or relying on charts to make your investment decisions. You don’t understand = You speculate = You lose money.

See what Warren Buffett has to say.

Related Posts
Share

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

leslie December 24, 2008 at 11:39 am

Mark Twain is hilarious. Love it! =]
But, you also have a typo. “dangerous months to speculate in stock in”? Nix the last in and your good.

Alvin December 24, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Yeah Leslie, and thanks for the heads up!

Leave a Comment

Previous post: Burton Malkiel attacks Techincal Analysis

Next post: Warren Buffett is buying American stocks now