Most investors act like Jordan fans, in their eyes, Jordan will always be the best.
Investors who declare their investments publicly often fall into the trap of unwavering loyalty to their chosen stocks or assets.
Those who disagree or don’t invest are simply stupid for not seeing the opportunity.
It’s a me versus them kind of mentality.
It doesn’t matter if the thesis has obvious flaws. It doesn’t matter if it could be a value trap. It doesn’t matter if it could be a scam.
If necessary, they will sink with the investment. And perhaps come to their senses after they’ve lost everything.
There’re a few things that deserve such unconditional love in life, it could be—your mother, your spouse or even your puppy with big round eyes—but certainly not your investments.
When investing, it’s never a good idea to fall in love. Over the last two years, I’ve seen a YouTuber declare that Alibaba is a no-brainer, went on leverage to invest in the stock and lost over $200,000 after getting margin called. I’ve seen a Singaporean influencer sold his house to buy into SingPost (a local postal delivery service) because it was “clearly a great opportunity”.
None of these investments turned out well and you would think that all these stories only exist in crypto land but it happens across all asset classes and styles of investing.
Our investments are not like Mike, they are not infallible; they are subject to market dynamics, economic shifts, or you could be just plain wrong to begin with.
The lesson here is this: Investing demands a rational approach, free of emotional biases and attachments. It isn’t easy, but we certainly don’t need to make it more difficult by declaring to your friends, colleagues or on social media that our investment is the next “Michael Jordan”.