XPost: comp.sys.mac.advocacy, comp.sys.macintrash   
   From: reply_in_group@mouse-potato.com   
      
   In article , Timberwoof   
   wrote:   
   > I bought some at $20 on the way down ... and then things got so bad I   
   > couldn't afford to sit that out and sold it at a loss to pay for other   
   > things.   
   >   
   > Don't buy stock unless you can afford to not touch the money for five   
   > years.   
      
   Add another clause to that: ", and you are very rich and are a full-time   
   investor who is buying stock in many companies".  For nearly everyone else,   
   they should have their long-term growth money in an index fund keyed off a   
   major market index like the S&P 500 or the Dow.  Such a fund does better   
   long term than individual stocks, and you don't even have to think about it.   
      
   Investing in individual stocks, such as Apple, for the small investor, is   
   best only for people who want to put a lot of work into doing worse than the   
   market averages. :-)   
      
   --   
   --Tim Smith   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)