I Think I'm in Love (with a stock)

There are a countless number of popular investment sayings and quotations, and I am sure we can all think of a few that we have used to guide our investing strategies over the years. For example, ‘the trend is your friend’ or ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ are well-known maxims that have undoubtedly been proven true time and time again to numerous investors.

While there are many famous investing adages—and feel free to share some of yours in the comments below-- one of my all-time favorites has to be ‘Don’t ever fall in love with a stock because it will never love you back’.

When I first heard that one, I vowed to incorporate the idea into my investing style. After all, it made perfect sense that you have to keep your investments in perspective and realize that your picks aren’t ‘friends’ or ‘partners’ but simply shares of ownership in a faceless company (for more on this topic read Are You An Emotional Investor?).

Yet while I have always recognized how true the statement is, I often ask myself, how often do I really follow the saying’s advice?

Looking at my own personal portfolio, I can definitely say that I am guilty of falling in love with at least a few of the stocks/funds that I own, and for a variety of reasons too.

I mean, looking down at the Fossil watch on my hand I know I could never bring myself to sell Fossil ( FOSL - Analyst Report ) shares, nor after visiting Malaysia could I ever be persuaded to sell the iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund ( EWM - ETF report ) .

Fortunately, both of the picks I highlighted have been decent performers, and had solid fundamentals both when I first bought them and at last check, but I frequently wonder if I could ever sell either one of them and break the emotional attachment I have to these choices.

I kind of doubt it.

Instead, I am sure that I will be an apologist for these picks for years to come no matter what happens. People don’t buy watches anymore? They will come back in style soon. Civil unrest in Malaysia? Time to buy more for the long haul!

With that being said, I certainly don’t view my entire portfolio this way, and I regularly discard or replace many of the others. However, others are special and I cannot see myself parting with them any time soon regardless of how they perform…

What about you?

Are you blinded by love in a particular investment you have made? Can a certain stock or fund do no wrong in your eyes?

Or have you been an extremely disciplined—albeit heartless-- investor who has always been able to separate emotion from investing?

Let us know in the comments below!

(If you couldn’t tell from the article I am long both EWM and FOSL)