For most people, when a stock they own is down, they get nervous.  They think about selling.

Most people are not dealmakers.

For the true dealmaker, market prices are just that—market prices.  They are not well-reasoned appraisals of business value.  They are the product of opionion and emotion and can be way off base.  They are there to take advantage of or ignore, as the case may be.

True dealmakers don’t try to time the market.  They don’t trade stocks.  They don’t look for insights from chart patterns or recent market action.  Stop-losses (traders mechanically looking to sell if stocks fall to certain levels) are not even part of their language.

The investors who understand this live a good life.  Not onl　y is their investment performance generally better over the long term, but they just don’t worry as much.  They are secure in their knowledge and their research.  They are calm and reflective, even when the market is turbulent and pulsing with fear.

They spend time away from their computer screens.  They sleep well at night, as the old saying goes.

Your investment dollars are safest in cash.  That is true.  Yet there is an old saying:  “Ships are safest in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.”  If you are really a long-term investor, you ought to welcome the lower prices as a chance to pick up some choice bargains.


SOURCE:
Christopher Mayer
Invest Like a Dealmaker: Secrets from a Former Banking Insider
John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2008