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Date: February 7, 2012

Top 9 Tips for the Successful Investor in 2012: Tip #3

3 – Beware the “Money Magazine Jinx”.

What worked well last year isn’t likely to be repeated next year. When the popular publications like Money and Fortune give kudos to a particular investment’s success last year, it’s usually close to the end. That’s been the case the vast majority of the time in bull and bear markets with geographic regions like Asian emerging markets, asset classes like commodities, mutual funds like the Fairholme Fund and Legg Mason Value Trust, sectors like technology and energy along with individual stocks.

My favorite examples of this were Time magazine naming CEO Jeff Bezos Man of the Year in 1999 and US News & World Report running a cover story entitled AOL Rules as the merger with Time Warner was announced (see below). Did you see who was recently on Time’s cover?

AOL - Time Warner Merger on US News & World Report Cover

Be VERY careful chasing the winners from year to year, but ESPECIALLY when the popular publications celebrate them! What stands out to you as the big winners from 2011?

Author:

Paul Schatz, President, Heritage Capital