Day trading and picking individual stocks is not rational for most investors—the odds are heavily against your success.

In the absence of the ability to see the future, how can we position our portfolios for what lies ahead? I think much of the answer lies in understanding where the market stands in its cycle and what that implies for its future movements. As I wrote in The Most Important Thing, “we may never know where we’re going, but we’d better have a good idea

Disregarding the big swing and trying to jump in and out was fatal to me. Nobody can catch all the fluctuations. In a bull market your game is to buy and hold until you believe that the bull market is near its end. To do this you must study the general conditions and not tips or special factors affecting individual stocks. Then get out of all your