Will Negative Comments Drive You Crazy?

If you frequent public forums and social media platforms associated with stock market, surely you'll see negative comments on almost all the stocks.

Some negative comments make sense but I'd say most do not. 

Some people like to create fear and anger in other people and they might have a sense of satisfaction in doing so.

So it's not uncommon to see heated exchange in public forums and social medias.

How should you react to this?

First, we must understand why do people openly talk bad about a stock. For me, it's simple: It's because they are in pain.

They are in pain because they miss the boat and can't stand to see other investors make gain on that stock.

They are in pain because they don't think that stock is good but its share price goes up instead.

They are in pain because they suffer loss in that stock before but that stock makes good gain now.

They are in pain because they sell that stock too early at a small profit but can't stand that stock goes up further.

They are in pain because their open negative opinion on that stock has been challenged by the rise in stock price.

They are in pain because some investors they don't like are making good gain on that stock.

They are in pain because they see themselves as great investors but those "ordinary" people who buy that "junk" stock make more money than them.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that you must not feel the pain if those scenarios happen to you.

It's totally normal to have these "pains" in stock market investment. 

Who does not have pain when you sell a stock at RM2 and then see that stock jumps to RM4 in a month?

Who does not have pain when you tell your friends to avoid this stock but its profits and share price keeps going up? Where to hide your face?

Who does not have pain when you lost millions ringgit in a stock before and sees it gain 50% now after you have exited?

Who does not have pain when you practice value investing and earn 20% a year but you see that aunty in the wet market earns 200% in gloves stocks this year and keeps on boasting about it?

We are all human being and should have similar feeling. It's just that some keep it to themselves, and some choose to vent their frustration in the public.

In doing so, they think that they can affect the share price negatively, so that their pain will be less.

As they can hide their true identities in most forums and social media platforms, they bear no responsibility in posting any kinds of trash comments. 

They are just keyboard warriors, while in reality, they are not dare to speak up. 

For me, the best way to react to those baseless negative comments or provocation is not to react.

As I just mentioned, those people are in pain and they want to see you in pain as well. They will be very happy to see you getting angry and frustrated by their negative comments. 

If you just ignore them, they will be like a schizophrenic talking to themselves and slapping on their own faces. Eventually it will make themselves look funny like a clown.

Will those negative comments have any negative effects on the stock price?

I can see that many investors are very worried that those negative comments will make the share price fall.

Personally I don't think so. May be only 1% of investors who are interested or invested in that stock will see those negative comments.

In very short term, may be it will cause the stock to fall a little bit but certainly not longer term.

A company which can make RM200mil in the next year won't see its profit drops to RM20mil after being bad-mouthed by someone.

If those people really cause the share price to drop in short term, then we must thank them for giving us the opportunity to buy at lower price.

Nevertheless, not all negative comments are baseless. Some might be really useful and can save us from a bad investment.

In a nutshell, when you see negative comments on certain stock especially the stock you own, don't respond with anger or frustration.

Study the negative comment carefully and decide whether it is worth trusting or not. If it can be trusted, then be more careful in your investment as it might help you.

If it's not, then just laugh it off without giving any reply.

Do not waste your time and energy to counter the negative comments. Do not fall into the trap that will negatively affect your emotion and health.

Eventually time will tell who's right or wrong.