Is Market Timing Really as Horrible as Everyone Says?
Nobody likes to see losses in their investment portfolios. It's the dream of avoiding those losses that leads so many investors to try to time the market.
Like many of my colleagues at The Motley Fool, I'm a big proponent of long-term investing. Early on in my investing career, I learned the hard way that trying to time the market can often leave you locking in losses and missing out on big gains.
Yet some of the ways that people argue against market timing are truly cringe-worthy. Arguing the right point for the wrong reason is counterproductive and makes those with opposing views only more steadfast in their beliefs. Below, I'll look at one of the least effective arguments against market timing --and then turn to a better one that uses actual data to show what investors are really doing with their money.
Source Fool.com
