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This type of action usually occurs because of a massive
misunderstanding on the part of "investors." During the heady days
of the technology boom, buying a technology stock was a no-brainer.
Pretty much anything related to technology was on its way up due in
no small part to people who had a whole lot of faith, a whole lot
of cash, and very little else.
Investing in the stock market has never been an easy way to make
money. Picking winners and weeding out the losers is a very tedious
process which requires a good measure of data crunching and faith
that history will hold. Invariably, however, most investors read
the investor recommendation in the paper, get a "hot tip" from
someone at work, or just get caught up in the products of a
particular company. This, unfortunately, is no substitute for
proper research and measured risk.
There's no doubt that Apple was doing well last year. Their
products were hot, and people were buying them like crazy. However,
people that looked at Apple and its latest product offerings and
decided the stock was the best thing going weren't looking at the
big picture. Several Mac news outlets - both online and off - were
spelling out the future of the
Cube in black and white: too expensive, no clear spot in the
product line up, very few expansion options. While many of us were
wowed by the Cube's fantastic design, many Mac users knew that it
wouldn't be a computer they would buy.
Of course, any of these negative opinions from Mac press
stalwarts would be useful information if you were looking at buying
Apple stock. Somehow I don't believe that most of the people
involved in this lawsuit were even doing the minimum required
research that would allow them to make an educated decision.
When it comes to investing, it pays to ignore the press releases
and newscasts. Trust your own research, look at the stocks historic
highs and lows, do some rudimentary calculations and then make an
informed decision.
Here's a news flash for would be investors: The stock market is
a crapshoot. Odds might be better than your average betting parlor,
but predicting the future is rarely a lucrative endeavor. Being a
savvy investor requires a large dose of hard work, patience, and a
little bit of guts to stick to you guns if things go bad.
Unfortunately, these traits are in very short supply in the world
today.
If you're going to rely on a company to provide a completely
accurate forecast or banking that a few products will boost the
stock through the roof, you'd be better off settling down in
Vegas.
As for the four top executives selling stock at the high point:
That's something that should be looked at closely and dealt with
accordingly. A few people dealing in insider trading cannot,
however, be inflated to compensate folks who probably shouldn't
have been investing in the first place.
To those who are part of this lawsuit: Chalk it up as a learning
experience, because it's nothing more than that.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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