{"id":58763,"date":"2024-02-12T18:27:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T22:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/?p=58763"},"modified":"2025-04-01T12:35:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T16:35:24","slug":"dont-check-your-stocks-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/dont-check-your-stocks-every-day\/","title":{"rendered":"How Often Should You Check Your Stocks? (NOT every day)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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If you’re wondering how often you should check your stocks, you’re probably checking them too much. It frustrates me to no end when I see new investors constantly checking their stocks like it\u2019s their Twitter feed. It seems like even the slightest dip in the market causes them to freak out and start selling everything.<\/p>\n

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I have one piece of advice for all you investment n00bz out there:<\/p>\n

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STOP CHECKING YOUR DAMN STOCKS EVERY DAY.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sweating out the slightest variation of your stocks daily is a recipe for an anxiety attack AND\u00a0poor financial management. I don\u2019t check my stocks that often \u2014 they\u2019re long-term investments.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"SP
Selling in 2009 would have cut your losses, and your gains – Wikimedia Image<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/center>\n

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But I get it — television pundits and so-called \u201cinvestment experts\u201d make you think that every up and down is the end of the world and deserves two hours of coverage.<\/p>\n

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Also, notice how they only ever cover the \u201csexy\u201d stocks? Give me a break.<\/p>\n

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The fact of the matter is you shouldn\u2019t even really \u201cpick\u201d stocks to begin with. Relying on a handful of individual stocks in the hopes of making money is a good recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

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After all, you don\u2019t understand a company\u2019s finances. Hell, professional investors, economists, and fund managers — all of whom are paid millions every year — can\u2019t beat the market either!<\/p>\n

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Remember: Investing isn\u2019t about just picking stocks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Now, if you actually enjoy reading Forbes<\/em>\u00a0and watching the pundits purely for entertainment purposes<\/em>, then go right ahead.\u00a0There\u2019s nothing wrong with being entertained by Jim Cramer throwing chairs around on Mad Money<\/em><\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

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But you also need to keep in mind that 99.999999% of the advice you see out there is pure fearmongering or entertainment. Ask yourself: do the pundits make money when their readers make money? Or do they make money from ratings and clicks? Exactly.<\/p>\n

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Two things to always keep in mind when it comes to stocks:<\/p>\n

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  1. The professionals are almost always wrong. <\/strong>The stock picks of pundits and so-called professionals are usually no better than pure chance<\/a><\/u>\u00a0and even professional money managers barely ever beat the market benchmark<\/a><\/u>.\u00a0In other words, they don\u2019t just underperform,\u00a0but they do it by A LOT.As William Bernstein, author of The Intelligent Asset Allocator, <\/em>says: \u201cThere are two kinds of investors, be they large or small: Those who don\u2019t know where the market is headed, and those who don\u2019t know they don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. It\u2019s mostly just noise. <\/strong>If you\u2019re a long-term investor (and you should be) you don\u2019t need to check your stocks every day. You don\u2019t even need to check your stocks every WEEK. I only check my stocks once or twice a month to make sure the automation is working.The daily changes in stocks are almost always noise \u2014 plain and simple. And very few (read: almost none) of your investments will be determined by the news of one day.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Context is king in evaluating equities<\/h2>\n

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    I used to teach a class on investments. I would draw a picture of a rapidly declining stock and ask, \u201cWhat should I do with my stocks?\u201d<\/p>\n

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    About 25% of the class shouted, \u201cSell!\u201d and 25% said, \u201cHold it!\u201d while a couple of people in the class muttered \u201cBuy more.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    None of them were exactly right though. The truth is, you need more context. <\/em><\/p>\n

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    If a stock like, say, Apple, falls a bunch, you have to look at the surrounding context and ask questions like:<\/p>\n

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