Gilt by Association

There's been much in the news lately about skittish investors buying gold. And not just futures either, but insisting on taking deliverance of the actual bullion. All that demand is driving up the price of gold to over $900 an ounce.

Ever noticed how humans are pack animals? We hear the warnings of Wall Street analysts and rush to buy or sell whatever they may be hawking or shunning that particular day. It some cases it creates forced losses for some investors. But let's not get into the legality of some practices.

We wonder whether we should have jumped ship on certain stock months before and then beat ourselves up for holding stock that takes a nosedive into oblivion. Yep, I infamously held my Enron stock to the bloody end. There's so much emotion wrapped up in our investments, just as our hopes and dreams and children's college and our retirement are wrapped up in those investments. Who among you hasn't been filled with angst upon opening your quarterly statement?

The best advice I have heard recently about investing in the stock market is to take emotion off the table. Sort of like the best poker players. The best of the best let no facial muscles betray their hands. When we take emotion out of our investments, we can invest the same monthly amount in stocks regardless of the market. Over time, the gains will offset the losses and provide us with a nice nest egg. And while everyone else is madly selling off their stocks in favor of precious metals, we'll be racking up more shares at discounted prices.