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Our Favorite Investing Lessons from the Last 20 Years

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  • (2:45) - Learning From Warren Buffett
  • (8:50) - Investing In The Trends
  • (22:15) - Make Sure You Have A Plan
  • (29;35) - Are ETFs The Safe Investment?
  • (37:40) - Episode Roundup: XLK, IBB, AMZN, AAPL, FNKO, SQ, SHW, SOXX, NVDA
  •                 Podcast@Zacks.com

Welcome to Episode #200 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

On this special episode, the 200th of the Market Edge Podcast, Kevin Cook, Zacks Senior Equity Strategist and Editor of the Healthcare Innovator newsletter, joins in the discussion on the investing lessons they have both learned over the last 20 years of investing.

What lessons have they learned that other investors can apply to their own strategies?

Two of Kevin’s Key Lessons

1.       Trends: technology and healthcare innovation has stood the test of time over the last few decades. Kevin recommended buying the Technology Select SPDR ETF (XLK - Free Report) and the iShares NASDAQ Biotech ETF (IBB - Free Report) back in March 2009 as stocks were plunging. The XLK is up 392% since the March 2009 lows and the IBB is up 391% versus a 251% return on the S&P 500 over the same period. Also, individual companies such as Square (SQ - Free Report) are leading new industries.

2.       ETFs: Use them for niche investing. Zacks ETF Investor bought the iShares Semiconductors ETF (SOXX - Free Report) back in 2016. That bet has paid off on a very narrow category in technology.

Two of Tracey’s Top Lessons

1.       Buy the Best: don’t settle for the second-best company in the industry just because it may appear to be cheaper. Buy the industry leaders. In the 1990s, Tracey learned a hard lesson thanks to this.

2.       You Don’t Have to Buy IPOs: There’s a lot of publicity surrounding “new” IPOs and many investors think it’s the only way to get a big winning stock. But you can buy an IPO years, or decades, later with much success. For example, Berkshire Hathaway recently bought Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and it’s been over 20 years since its 1997 IPO.

What other investing lessons did Kevin and Tracey pass along on this special 200th episode?

Tune in to this week’s podcast to find out.

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of AMZN in her personal portfolio.]

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