Wall Street cliches

By Kevin Theissen

Pundits say a lot of things about the markets. Here is a small handful:

• Buy the rumor and sell high, because there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
• Prediction is difficult, but never catch a falling knife.
• Cut your losses, no one ever went broke taking profits.
• As Mark Twain said, October is a peculiarly dangerous month to speculate in stock. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, and February, so sell in May and go away.
• Bull markets climb a wall of worry, and bear markets decline on a slippery slope of hope. But remember, pigs get slaughtered and everyone looks like a genius in a bull market.
• Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful, and just make sure you don’t fight the tape.
• When the tide goes out, you’ll find out who’s been swimming without a bathing suit.
• Make sure you know where your money is at the closing bell.

Are these and other cliches true or have truth to them? Maybe. Or maybe they did at one time.

Or maybe they hold true sometimes but not others. Does history repeat itself? Or is Mark Twain right when he said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

Be careful of what information you come across and choose to rely on — and make sure you try to get all the relevant facts.

Kevin Theissen is the owner of HWC Financial in Ludlow.