Over my years as a Real Money columnist, I have had the fortunate opportunity to interact with many readers who have appreciated many of the stock selections that I mention from time to time. It's truly a great feeling to help others navigate through the tens of thousands of investment opportunities out there.
Obviously, not all of my ideas have been home runs (or even singles) and that is to be expected. But thankfully my value-oriented approach to stock selection has created more winners than losers.
While I wish I were a skilled trader, I'm not. I focus on buying dollars for 50 cents and that often means buying an asset when it is misunderstood or hated in the market. It usually takes time for that pessimism to fade away so that the stock price can catch up to the valuation.
I mention all this because I like tell others to ignore my stock picks and focus on my investment candidates. In other words, my ideas are designed for the patient investor. That means buy and hold forever.
Occasionally I will I do stumble upon an idea that makes me look really smart as ot takes off in short order. After I first recommended biotech Kindred Biosciences (KIN), when shares were trading for around $14, it jumped to $26 in less than two months. In that case, selling was not a bad bet (of course I didn't), although I think the shares will get there again and then some.
Yesterday I talked about small-cap Orion Energy Systems (OESX) and after a quiet morning, the shares finished up 15%. Again, if anyone took the ride, they are probably smiling right now. You can never go broke booking double-digit gains in a single day. Nonetheless, these daily, weekly or even monthly movements don't make me any smarter. Indeed, valuation is always my catalyst and so I do expect such price movements over time. But just the same, if the shares had dropped by 15% in a day, I also don't see that as a being dumb. In the short run, the stock market is a voting machine fueled by investor sentiment. In the long run, the stock market is a weighing machine fueled by business operating performance.
I'm looking forward to providing other intriguing ideas in the future as they develop. In the meantime, enjoy the stock picks, but focus on the investment merit.
