Ian Cassel absolutely nails it with this tweet
On the ASX alone there are over 2,000 individual stocks. There’s something like 10,000 across all US equity markets. It’s impossible to have a thorough understanding of every single one.
The good news is, you don’t need to. In fact, you shouldn’t even try.
Having a take on every company doesn’t make you smarter, it makes you distracted. The more you spread your mental bandwidth, the less focus you have to truly understand the companies that do matter: the ones you own.
The beauty of investing is that you don’t need to be right about every company. You have the luxury of choice — and you can afford to be extremely fussy.
Remember, the market rewards focus. Breadth of knowledge doesn’t win — depth does. And owning a stock means understanding it, like, really understanding it.
What problem is this company solving? How does it make money? What risks could derail it? These aren’t questions you can answer when your attention is pulled in a thousand directions.
Selective conviction is the name of the game. It’s not too dissimilar to poker; you don’t need to play every hand to win, just the ones where you have a clear edge.
Besides, trying to be across everything is exhausting. It only leads to feeling stressed and overwhelmed, not smarter.
You just need to make peace with the fact that you will miss plenty of opportunities. Everyone does. As they say, when you compare, you despair — and envy is never going to lead to better outcomes.
Investing isn’t about being omniscient. It’s about being intentional. The market rewards focus, because focus leads to conviction, and conviction is what allows you to buy and hold through volatility.
So, stay disciplined, stay selective, and remember: the best investors aren’t the ones with the most opinions — they’re the ones with the strongest convictions.
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