I apologise in advance if you think I’m talking about the coronavirus today.
Aside from that sentence, it’s not getting much of a run today. I think Ryan and Lachie have done a great job covering it all in Money Morning this week so far.
But, Sam you’re talking about a cure. A cure to what?
Great question, and thanks for asking.
I’m talking about the cure to what ails all investors. A cure to the wretched illness of hyplegia.
Now, if you’re a scholar of the English language you’ll know hyplegia is not a word. At least not until now. But I’m making it one.
And I’m going to lodge my English language word application with the Grand Poobah and Council of New Words straight after we publish today’s essay.
Hyplegia, I’ve decided, will be an investment term. When it’s added to the dictionary it will likely read as:
Hyplegia
X hi-plee-gee-ah
Noun: hyplegia
A person suffering a form of paralysis in decision-making as a result of overwhelming mainstream hype around a particular subject.
‘Hyplegia kicked in when the news said we’ll all die from coronavirus.’
What do you think? Do you like my new word? Or do you think I’ve lost my marbles?
Vaccinate yourself from hyplegia
Now you might not be currently showing symptoms of hyplegia. They’re not so obvious at first. But you’ll eventually feel it.
It starts as a little knot in the pit of your stomach and a scratch in the back of your mind. Then it manifests into things like a sweaty brow and shaky hands. The final sign that you’ve got hyplegia is the inability to hit the BUY or SELL button on your online trading account.
When you’re at that stage, then you’ve got it bad.
But not all hope is lost.
As I say, there is a cure for hyplegia. Or you can view it as a vaccination if you think you might be at risk.
And it’s a very easy, straightforward cure/vaccination. It hasn’t gone through clinical trials yet because there’s actually nothing you need to take.
The way to cure hyplegia is to take a day off.
Yep, that’s it. Just take a day off, from everything.
Take a day off from work, your phone, the internet, email, TV, news, radio, social media — all at once. Go and do something where you won’t see any sort of ‘news’ from any source for at least 24 hours.
Maybe you like to play golf. Go book a night at a course somewhere and get in a round or two. Perhaps you like the beach. Then head down the coast, go surfing, read some books, sink a few bevvies by the water.
Whatever it is that you enjoy to do in your downtime, do it.
And when you return with a clear mind, I guarantee you’ll be cured from hyplegia. You’ll then be able to make the decisions that need to be made while everyone else is still paralysed.
Of course hyplegia is most common when the source material is bad. When the mainstream consistently pushes the ‘end of the world’ scenario at us, that’s when hyplegia kicks in the worst.
It causes people to simply forget all rational thought and cease to make decisions. Inaction then becomes their worst enemy and the hyplegia settles in for the long haul.
Those who don’t contract hyplegia to start with or cure themselves from a bout of it have the upper hand. They’re able to move in and out of the markets like a Bolshoi ballet dancer.
When hyplegia is driven by pure fear, they assess the market and companies on their merits. They find their way into stocks that are discounted because of the fear. They know that the fear won’t last forever and when it subsides, they will have snaffled up a bargain or two.
Two stocks that aren’t riddled with a virus
Look, there’s a simple message here. And all jokes aside, you’ve got to really have your wits about you as an investor these days.
The ASX is chock-full of great companies. There are companies not only dominating the domestic landscape, but the global landscape too.
And they’re always working towards growth. I’d go so far to say there’s not a single company on the ASX that’s just going through the motions.
Even the ones that end up failing still fight for success all the way to the end. But most, if not all, of the ones you can invest in are trying to deliver growth and returns to shareholders.
This is never more evident than in times of outright fear, like now.
Take for instance the tiny ASX small-cap stock, Titomic Ltd [ASX:TTT]. They’re an ‘additive manufacturing’ company. Another term we’ve used for them before is 3D printing company.
Their speciality is manufacturing using the world’s largest metal 3D printer. They cover industries around the world from aviation to consumer goods and even boats. They’ve inked deals and agreements with companies like Boeing and Thales, some of the biggest companies in the world.
And this week Titomic came out a trading halt announcing another big deal. As the company explained:
‘This contract will generate AUD$25.5* million in sales for Titomic from the provision of two Titomic Kinetic Fusion® (“TKF’’) Systems for industrial scale metal additive manufacturing.’
That’s significant for a company whose market cap was hovering around $100 million around a month ago. And the market received the news with great enthusiasm.
Titomic was up over 22% in trading on Wednesday to close at 99.5 cents. This is what’s possible, even when there’s a market-wide outbreak of hyplegia.
Of course Titomic wasn’t the only company showing a gain while the wider market bled.
Apollo Tourism & Leisure Ltd [ASX:ATL] was up 28% on Wednesday, completely bucking the trend of the market. The reason for their huge spike in price?
Well, it was nothing to do with hand sanitisers. Not a mention of face masks or hazmat suits. Nope, Apollo just reported a really strong set of full-year financials for their half year ending 31 December 2019.
A statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $11.3 million was enough to light the fire under their stock’s backside. Their company now carries a market capitalisation of $63 million…and that’s after they saw their value increase by more than a quarter yesterday.
Stocks like these are also a great vaccine to hyplegia. They prove money can be made even when it might seem like the sky is truly falling.
News flash, it’s not.
And those who don’t suffer from hyplegia may be making a killing.
They’re not worried about the mass hysteria and fear from coronavirus. They’re trading and investing in the market based on what the stocks say, not what the mass media says.
That’s the kind of raw focus you need. Take each stock on its own merits. Look beyond the mass hype and hysteria. There’s plenty of stocks, loads of small-cap stocks now trading at double-digit discounts.
Whether you take action or not depends on if you’re suffering from hyplegia. In my view if you’re vaccinated, or recently cured, it’s a great opportunity to BTFD.
If you’re not sure what BTFD means. I’ll leave it with you to research and find out.
Regards,
Sam Volkering,
Editor, Money Morning
PS: Our publication Money Morning is a fantastic place to start on your investment journey. We talk about the big trends driving the most innovative stocks on the ASX, in particular small caps stocks. Learn all about it here.
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