platinum rule of trading

have u ever been to pushkar?

it's famous globally
for its pushkar fair.

hundreds of shops are set up
to trade camels, horses, bulls, cows and much more.

very hard bargaining takes place.

prices as high as five times the correct price can be quoted initially!

many traders throng the place
spend a day or two
to trade the livestock.

everyone wants
the best
for the least.

every animal gets sold
except
(and this is what i want to underline)
....except
the sick ones
or the ones with some or the issue.

hardly any trader in his thinking cap
is interested in an animal
he is not sure of its survival.

but very very surprisingly
in stock market
everyday
thousands and lacs of traders
trade in (live)stocks
which are not only sick
but seriously sick.
some are
shockingly
terminally sick!

since nobody can see the stock
unlike a horse or a cow,
hardly any amateur retail trader
bothers to check the health
of the stock he or she
is going to trade.

the result?

operators play their tricks
and the innocent traders
get trapped
amidst sick stocks
with little or no chance
of returning to health
atleast not so soon!
they are left with no choice
except to either keep bleeding
or book loss.

so,
here is the lesson
a crucial critical one
- never trade in fundamentally weak stocks
always trade in fundamentally strong ones.

so that
even if the operators play their games
(which they will)
you will still be
amidst
healthy camels
with enough "water"
to survive any desert.

trading in sick stocks
(fundamentally weak)
is like
swinging on the circus ropes
without safety net.

trading in weak stocks
is like playing
the devils game
with the devil.