Investors do the darndest thing

The market has bounced back again.
Asia: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081013/tbs-as-world-markets-e285837.html
Wall Street: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081013/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

It's almost funny that when the market plunged, everyone is crying the loudest. When the market rebounds, no one seems to notice. I barely heard a whimper.

I'm talking about investors.

Like crashing and booming markets, these are cycles that repeat over and over. Every market crisis has the wise making money because the majority freaked out and pulled out when they were not supposed to, sending prices falling at the "unprecedented" lows (that's when people like Warren Buffet come in and get richer). Every time, the majority makes the same mistakes, and the wise reaps same profit the same way.

Don't get me wrong, I know how it is to lose money. I have lost money in investments before, and believe me, I started thinking irrationally and made more and more bad moves each time I did anything about it. Yet, I did know how the markets work, but I still made that mistake.

It's called emotions. Emotions are what make us human. Emotions help us appreciate joy, love and everything else that is nice. But it also has a dark side. If not managed properly, you really end up doing the stupidest things.

Don't blame yourself. You're only human. Just get better each time you mess up. It's just like this.