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Time For Action
by Charles B. Carlson, CFA
Dow Theory Forecasts

The best we can do as investors is to do what we think is best.

That statement seems so obvious, so clichéd. Yet, I guarantee that many of you reading this know you should be doing certain things with your portfolio that you believe will improve it, but you're not.

You know you should dump that tech stock that never is going to come back, but you don't.

You know you should lower your exposure to that one stock that comprises 40% of your portfolio, but you don't.

You know you should buy more of that down-but-not-out drug stock, but you don't.

I've talked a lot about investor paralysis over the last few months. Why? Because from where I'm sitting, the inability to act - even when you believe the action is in your best financial interest -- is the single greatest problem afflicting investors today.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not pointing fingers. Heck, I've been as bad as anyone else in failing to follow my intuition and intellect and reshape my portfolio.

But the time has come for us to get busy.

Why? Because my work tells me that we've got a new bull market on our hands. And while it may not be as accommodating as the bull markets of the '80s and '90s, it will still provide plenty of opportunities to make money . . . IF your portfolio is positioned to benefit.

So get busy.

Get busy weeding the junk.

Get busy buying the good stuff.

Are you going to make some mistakes? Sure. Are you going to sell some stocks that may come back to haunt you? Most assuredly.

But I promise you that if you control the investment process, rather than letting the process control you, you will be much better off in the long run.

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