Calling all doomsayers: ASX soars in early trading

S&P/ASX 300 soars 2.5% and is still rising

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published August 25, 2015 12:00 pm AEST

What was expected to be a giant crash on the Australian stock markets has dissipated. Before lunchtime, the S&P/ASX 300 (Index: ^XKO) (ASX: XKO) has rocketed up 2% and is heading higher as I write.

Source: The Age

So much for all those doomsday headlines,

"Carnage in world markets as global share prices collapse"

"Panic Hits Wall Street as carnage stuns market"

"Australian stocks shed $60 Billion"

Then we have those headlines extrapolating short-term events suggesting we could be headed for the GFC Mark II.

"Stock collapse has just begun"

"Get ready for a 25% collapse in share prices"

"Sell everything now"

Don't worry, they'll all be wrong.

Good luck to those traders and speculators trying to jump in and out of the market in times like this. You'll need luck because your investing strategy is likely flawed.

If you sold out of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) or Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) today and you could already be down more than 5%.

Foolish takeaway

As we wrote last week, it's easy to lose money in the stock market. Following the crowd and selling out because of fear was one of the five reasons. Don't believe the doomsayers either, just concentrate on buying good companies at cheap prices and hold for the long term.

Simple. Easy. Profitable.

Automatic Renewal

By taking up this offer, you will also be enrolled in our auto-renewal program, which is our way of making your ongoing subscription easier by ensuring uninterrupted service. Don't worry, though – you're not locked in, and can cancel your auto-renewal at any time before each 'anniversary' date without question or penalty.