When the stock market hits bear market territory and the Dow seems to drop by triple digits every day, it may help your returns (and sleep) to remember investor fortunes tend to be made buying when others are scared.
Sir John Templeton, sort of the Henry Ford of international mutual funds, just passed away this week. The Globe and Mail takes a look at some of what he has given society, and notes his optimism during times of distress:
It's 1939, and American investors are worried about protecting their portfolios. Not John Templeton. He was busy buying undervalued European stocks as the continent teetered on the brink of war.
Mr. Templeton bought shares in 104 European companies listed in New York – only four of the investments didn't work out – and that cemented his reputation as a stock picker with global savvy who would revolutionize the mutual fund industry.
Nowhere would that reputation loom as large as in Canada, where he incorporated his Templeton Growth Fund in 1954 – essentially founding the country's mutual fund industry – and introduced investing to the masses.
Mr. Templeton died of pneumonia yesterday in the Bahamas at 95."
He was a guy who knew how to look for the market's silver lining - even while everyone else was running for cover. And while current market conditions might not be as scary as they were back then, next time you consider cashing in your chips and heading to the safety of money markets after a significant market drop, ask yourself this: what would John Templeton do?
When the stock market hits bear market territory and the Dow seems to drop by triple digits every day, it may help your returns (and sleep) to remember investor fortunes tend to be made buying when others are scared.
Sir John Templeton, sort of the Henry Ford of international mutual funds, just passed away this week. The Globe and Mail takes a look at some of what he has given society, and notes his optimism during times of distress:
It's 1939, and American investors are worried about protecting their portfolios. Not John Templeton. He was busy buying undervalued European stocks as the continent teetered on the brink of war.
Mr. Templeton bought shares in 104 European companies listed in New York – only four of the investments didn't work out – and that cemented his reputation as a stock picker with global savvy who would revolutionize the mutual fund industry.
Nowhere would that reputation loom as large as in Canada, where he incorporated his Templeton Growth Fund in 1954 – essentially founding the country's mutual fund industry – and introduced investing to the masses.
Mr. Templeton died of pneumonia yesterday in the Bahamas at 95."
He was a guy who knew how to look for the market's silver lining - even while everyone else was running for cover. And while current market conditions might not be as scary as they were back then, next time you consider cashing in your chips and heading to the safety of money markets after a significant market drop, ask yourself this: what would John Templeton do?
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