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In today's Investor’s Business Daily, Trang Ho makes an unconvincing case against buy-and-hold:

Sitting tight may be prudent during brief downturns, but in many cases you cannot tell how long or deep a bear run will last.

Change "but" to "because," and tell me which makes more sense.

What I find curious is that he points to Intel (INTC) to support his case:

Intel plummeted 73% in a year. It bottomed out at 13.89 — 82% off its all-time high — by September 2002. It, along with most of the tech leaders of 2000, never recovered.

Sorry, but Intel is one the best examples of buy-and-hold. Let's look at history. In just four months, the stock plunged from $83.50 to $15.50. The year was 1974. Let’s just say that the stock recovered quite nicely. If you want to put those dollar figures in today’s terms, the stock has split 540-for-1 since then.

Or there was the 1980’s. Many people assume Intel’s stock was a big winner during the bull market. It wasn’t. The stock’s 1986 low was about 60% off its 1983 high. I hope you didn’t sell. As they say, "in many cases you cannot tell how long or deep a bear run will last."

Posted by edelfenbein at March 21, 2006 1:00 PM