Earlier this year I highlighted an article by Mr. Brett Arends of the WSJ who thrashed Apple, calling for investors to take profits, or at the minimum, buy some puts to cover the risk. Apple stock is up around 100% since Arends was calling to short Apple back in 2009.
Earlier this week, I read another article by Mr. Arends on the WSJ website, Is This The Peak for Netflix? You can guess what he thinks about a stock that’s up over 250% in 2010 alone…that’s right, you should take profits!
But the game is different, and getting harder.
To me, it looks like Mr. Arends is playing the same game as always. He recommends shorting stocks that are up double digits…and continuing to short them if they become triple digit gainers. I cannot make this stuff up. If Brett Arends tells you to GET OUT or BUY PUTS, you might consider doing the opposite! Look-sooner or later, he will be right-he might even be right about Netflix. I have no better likelihood of guessing correctly than he does. It’s his job to make predictions, I suppose, but we all know predictions are unreliable.
You know what really grinds my gears about Mr. Arends? His articles are consistently at the top of the most-read and most-emailed links on the entire WSJ website! He is obviously getting paid good money to have his apocalyptic work published. Clearly, people love to hate on a winner.
Today, Mr. Arends came out with a new article, this one called, Why I Don’t Believe In This Santa Rally. With the stock market up around 10% this quarter, here’s what Mr. Arends has to say:
Two words: Bah, humbug.
The market doesn’t care what any commentator thinks should happen. Neither should you! If you’re going to read predictions, do it strictly for entertainment purposes.
Disclosure: Dorsey Wright Money Management owns Apple and Netflix in some of our portfolios.
.GIF credit to thisisallido.com
It’s his job to get eye balls and sell papers. He doesn’t gain or lose any real $$ through is prognastacations. Look at Farrell over at marketwatch - it’s the end of days every Tuesday.
I like to joke on Farrell too. Thanks for reading!