Markets down. Nerves fraying?

John Pierpont Morgan was once asked where he thought the stock market was headed. His answer?

“It will fluctuate.”

A sentence that hasn’t lost any of its relevance – even after more than 100 years.
And right now, the market is fluctuating again – downwards. Since mid-February, major indices have dropped more than 10%. And with falling prices, confidence is falling, too.

But it’s precisely now that long-term thinking really shows. That’s when you see who can resist the temptation to “get out in time.” Because – as experience tells us – getting back in rarely works.

The illusion of re-entry

Philip A. Fisher, author of one of the bestselling books on investing, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, made that point all the way back in 1958: an investor should never sell out of fear of a bear market. If a company is fundamentally strong, its stock will likely reach new highs in the next bull market – far above current levels.

Fisher wrote:

“I have seen many investors sell promising stocks for fear of a bear market. Frequently the bear market never came, and the stock went right on up. When a bear market has come, I have not seen one time in ten when the investor actually got back into the same shares before they had gone up above his selling price. Usually, they waited for the price to fall even lower. Or – if the stock had fallen sharply – fear of what else might go wrong kept them from re-entering.”

What follows is a familiar pattern: first, you think it’ll drop even more. Then you compare everything to the bottom, seeing only what you've already missed. And in the end, you wait for a second chance – which never comes.

Our approach

The price you pay for long-term gains is short-term pain. And we’re willing to pay that price. We invest in successful companies over many years – not in headlines, snapshots, or percentage thresholds.