☕ 3 simple things you need for an investing breakthrough now

Good morning! 👋 

We’ve all had some moment in our investing careers when we said we were going to do something, when we’ve promised ourselves that we’d buy, stick to it, or simply get started.  

Then for inexplicable reasons, we don’t. Or worse, we sabotage our future either unknowingly or because we think we’re doing the right thing by being “holding back.” 

I’ve spent 44 years in global financial markets studying what it takes to find great stocks, how to invest for maximum profitability and minimum risk and to build wealth. 

It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are, how much money you have, how little or even where you are in life... if you miss the big picture, you miss everything. 

Sailing west to watch the sunrise, as my grandmother Virginia “Mimi” Gruner would often observe, doesn’t make much sense. 

You need 3 simple things for an investing breakthrough. 

Anybody can do it. 

Here they are. 

#1 – Understand the bigger picture 

People make this a whole lot more complicated than it needs to be. 

They believe that focusing on smaller and smaller details is what’ll get you through, so they careen from one headline to another. Each one more click-baity and nasty than the last. Before they know it, they’re paralyzed because they have no idea what data points actually matter. 

There’s a very simple fix. 

#2 – Divorce the story, marry YOUR truth 

Performance expert Tony Robbins made the comment years ago that people don’t implement whatever strategies they want to follow because they get caught up in the story, not the truth. 

My experience matches up. 

I’ve spoken with tens of thousands of investors and traders over the years and the single biggest thing holding ‘em back is a lack of belief in what they want to accomplish. They get caught up in the stories du jour instead of focusing on where they want to wind up and working towards that. 

Investing isn’t a competition so the ranking lists and tip sheets you see constantly are worthless. You know the ones I’m talking about... “the top ten defense stocks, medical stocks, small caps you’ve never heard of” - that’s why I don’t do those things and never will. 

People ask me all the time for “hot” stocks but that’s the wrong question.  

What you really want to know is which companies are going to be there when you need ‘em...in 3 years, 5 years, even 20 years from now ... because they make “must have” products and services the world can’t live without. Not “nice to haves” that vanish faster than an ice cube on a hot afternoon. 

Take Apple, for example. 

The company is full of problems if you believe the naysayers at the moment. It's selling off, there aren’t as many iPhones being sold in China, Cook – gasp - cancelled its EV entirely. 

Gimme a break! 

Apple has returned a jaw-dropping 37,986.60% over the past 20 years, an average of 34.56% per year according to finmasters. And that’s after all the recent selling, mind you.  

Contrast that with Peloton.  

The company was a Wall Street darling that would go to the moon if you believed the hype; it crested at roughly $160 a share in late 2020. I told you to avoid it like the plague because a tablet on a bike was not a workable long-term business no matter how the boffins pitched it. It’s trading at $3.12 today. 

Again, and not to beat a dead horse but think dang it!!! 

Roughly 11% of the S&P 500 has reported results this quarter already, 72% of which have beaten expectations according to FactSet. 

Growth may slow from time to time, but it has never stopped in recorded history. 

#3 – Change your mindset 

Scared investors play not to lose because they believe the markets are stacked against them and they’ve bought into Wall Street’s bill of goods that investing is complicated, difficult and something you can’t do alone. 

Horsefeathers! 

Take a look at what the world’s best investors believe. 

It’s very different.  

They know – like we do - that the occasional loss comes with the territory, so they find stocks, ETFs and funds they want to hold for long periods of time then latch onto ‘em like a hawk. They don’t worry about the daily noise. 

They play to win, not “not” to lose. 

• Billionaire Ron Baron calls this buying with conviction.  
• Warren Buffett believes patient investors reap the rewards of buying when others are fearful.  
• Ray Dalio prefers growth-oriented stocks with a history of innovation.  
• Suze Orman insists like I do that you continue to invest when the markets slump because that’s how you get a foot in the door when things trend higher again. 

Pessimists – and there are a lot of ‘em out there at the moment – sound smart. They make it seem like they’re looking around the corner for you and thinking about stuff that everybody else has already missed. But that’s their “story,” not the truth. 

History shows very clearly that the markets have an upward bias over time. 

Optimists, on the other hand, start with a can-do attitude. They're more concerned with getting the results they want than making mistakes. They start from a position of “hey, how can we make this happen.” 

Your results change when you change your mindset. 

It’s easy to think “oh this never works for people like me” or “I couldn’t possibly do what they do.” 

Yes, it does and yes YOU can! 

1. The best really is yet to come, something I talked about with the PowerLunch Crew at CNBC about yesterday. I make the case for AI, Apple and why I’d rather focus on CEOs than the Fed any day (Watch); and, 
2. Having the right framework can make all the difference, a point I made with financial journalist Julia La Roche who very kindly invited me to her podcast which airs today. (Listen) 

Bottom Line 

The markets reward discipline, not emotion. 

Always have, always will. 

Do these three things – understand the bigger picture, divorce the story & marry the truth, and change your mindset – and you will achieve breakthroughs of your own. 

I’ll be here if you need me. 

And as always, let’s MAKE it a great day! 

You got this – I promise. 

Keith 😊