What I want to talk about is actually the complete opposite of the picture. Yes, this was a crazy good day. The best day my portfolio has had - 90k a while ago. Absolute madness.
But I want to talk about volatility.
Days like that one are the easy part. They’re the highlight reel. The real test, the one that separates people who stay invested long enough to get rich from the ones who don’t is what you do when the opposite happens.
If you can’t handle the idea of watching your portfolio cut in half and still doing nothing, stocks are probably the wrong asset class for you. And that’s completely fine, better to know that upfront than to find out the hard way.
But there will come a time when your portfolio drops 50% or more. You have to truthfully ask yourself do I have the stomach for that? Can I sit there and do nothing?
A big mistake with investing is mistaking action for progress. We buy, we sell, we move money around, we pivot. When in reality all we are doing is killing our returns. There are huge mathematical advantages to doing nothing. You avoid taxes, costs, and most of the behavioural mistakes that come from reacting to noise.
The sooner we realise that we are not smarter than the market and the way to win is to hold good businesses for the long run, the more money we’ll make.
Investing isn't about being smart. It's about temperament and discipline. To be able to withstand boredom.
So remember: volatility is the price of admission. The real skill isn’t picking the winners. It’s having the temperament to hold them through the drops and do nothing when everyone else is panicking.
Best of luck everybody keep stacking!!