Is Teradyne an Industrial Robot Stock Yet?

Because we write about exciting disruptive technologies, we’re read by a large number of eager first-time investors who are trying to find the next Microsoft and unaware of just how easy it is to lose money in the stock market. The fact that we’re now in the longest bull market ever doesn’t help much either. Everyone’s a great stock picker during bull markets. Since tech stocks are a volatile lot, most will plummet just as fast as they rose when the inevitable recession arrives. That’s why you should only invest with a very long horizon, and only in those companies that you’re willing to hold through times of turmoil, while perhaps increasing your position on dips with any dry powder you have lying around. “Fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,” as the Oracle of Omaha likes to say.

We all make the same mistakes the first time we invest our own money in the stock market. Checking our positions every day, putting all our eggs in one basket, or thinking that we’re the second coming of Nostradamus when one of our stocks doubles in price, are all behaviors that first-time investors often exhibit. In today’s age of instant gratification, few have the discipline or patience to use dollar-cost-averaging and accumulate stocks while getting rich slowly over time. (The lion’s share of our dollars are in such a strategy that revolves around dividend growth investing.) Tech stocks are notoriously risky, which is why we don’t invest in many. One stock we did pick some shares up in