Bulls, Bears & a Croupier: The insider's guide to profiting from the Australian stockmarket

Chapter 18: Old and past it

Experience is perceived as a valuable asset when it comes to managing money. The consensus view is that investing is a serious business that can get tricky, requiring a safe pair of hands and a cool head, especially when the market hits a rough patch: ‘You can’t buy experience’. And, from what I have seen over the years, you don’t want to pay a premium for longevity or excessive experience. Unlike other parts of life where humans edit out the bad memories, sharemarket recollections are littered with errors of judgement or unfortunate circumstances.

Ask any old timer about his or her experiences in the market and he or she will quickly re-tell stories of the bear market of the 1970s, the crash of 1987 and the bursting ...