Founder of William O’Neil & Co. and Investor’s Business Daily, William O’Neil, passed away at 90. He was renowned for being the youngest person to buy a seat at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in 1967, he launched a mutual fund that achieved a 115% return, and created data collection centers, research centers, and advisory firms for global markets. O’ Neil wrote several books on investing in the stock market, his masterpiece was ‘How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System In Good Times Or Bad’, which has sold over 4 million copies all over the world.
Below are his fifteen well known quotes:
1. When everybody is running around saying how great a stock is, everybody who can buy probably already has, and the only direction for the stock to go at that point is down. When it’s obvious and exciting to everyone, it’s too late.
2. Personal opinions, feelings, hopes, and beliefs about the stock market are usually wrong and often dangerous. Facts and markets, on the other hand, are seldom wrong.
3. A great trader once noted there are only two emotions in the market: hope and fear. “The only problem,” he added, “is we hope when we should fear, and we fear when we should hope.”
6. Purpose is a more powerful motivator than money. When you are not paid as much as you would like, your purpose will provide you a reason to continue producing excellence in your work. When you have more money than you ever thought possible, your purpose will provide you with a reason to continue producing excellence in your work.
7. Investors cash in small, easy-to-take profits and hold their losers. This tactic is exactly the opposite of correct investment procedure. Investors will sell a stock with profit before they will sell one with a loss.
8. The number one market leader is not the largest company or the one with the most recognised brand name; it’s the one with the best quarterly and annual earnings growth, return on equity, profit margins, sales growth, and price action.
9. Buying stocks on the way down is dangerous. You can get wiped out. So, stop this risky habit. Anyone who buys stocks on the way down in price because they look cheap will learn the hard way this is how you can lose a lot of money.
10. When you make a mistake in the stock market, the only sound thing to so is to correct it. Don’t fight it. Pride and ego never pay off.
11. Plot out your mistakes on charts, study them, and write some additional rules in order to correct your mistakes and the actions that cost you money.
13. Over time, you’ll learn that only one or two out of every 10 stocks you buy will be truly outstanding and capable of doubling or tripling or more in value.
15. There is no reason any investor should ever in any bull market buy or sit with a poor-performing stock with a Relative Strength Rating of 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50. The market is bluntly telling you that that investment is a relatively poor or mediocre choice.