Skip to main content

It doesn't pay to sell Amazon short (AMZN)

People have been doubting Amazon (AMZN) and predicting its demise since the .com bubble. 

I was reminded of this fact after sharing our recent post, "Amazon dominates as its rivals plunge", on social media last Friday. Just the mention of Amazon and its stock price was enough to elicit the usual chorus of "Amazon is doomed, just you wait and see" remarks.   

 Later that weekend, I happened to stumble upon this early tirade against Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos (hat tip: Pessimists Archive). When I saw this Google News entry from August 2000, I had to take a screenshot for posterity.


While some of Amazon.com's early critics were proved right about the trajectory of AMZN's stock price during the 2000 - 2002 bear market (it sank like a stone, along with nearly every other dot com bubble high-flyer), they ended up being very wrong about:

a) the company's survival 

b) its astounding growth and success 

c) Jeff Bezos' vision for the company and 

d) its stock price over the longer term (multiple market cycles). 

And guess what? I'm wrong too because, knowing what I know now, I never took a position in Amazon's stock. Maybe I'll wise up and buy AMZN after the next bear market ends. Live and learn, gang. Live and learn.

It just doesn't pay to sell a proven winner like Amazon short.

Subscribe to Finance Trends by email or get new posts via RSS.  You can follow our real-time updates on Twitter and StockTwits.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .
Read more

Jesse Livermore: How to Trade in Stocks (1940 Ed. E-book)

If you've been around markets for any length of time, you've probably heard of 20th century supertrader, Jesse Livermore . Today we're highlighting his rare 1940 work, How to Trade in Stocks (ebook, pdf). But first, a brief overview of Livermore's life and trading career (bio from Jesse Livermore's Wikipedia entry). "During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multi-million dollar fortunes. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly. Ironically, Livermore sometimes did not follow his rules strictly. He claimed that lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and...
Read more

Finance Trends 2019 Mid-Year Markets Review

Email subscribers of the Finance Trends Newsletter receive the first look at new articles and market updates, such as the following piece, sent out to our email list on Sunday (6/14).   Hello and welcome, everyone! If you received our last email notice over the July 4th holiday, you'll know that this weekend's newsletter will serve as a mid-year market update and a follow-up to issue #29, " How to Reinvest in a Rising Market ".   Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let's start the show...  Finance Trends Newsletter: Our Mid-Year Market Review When we last spoke, back in February, the U.S. stock market was rallying off its December-January lows. As the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reclaimed their 200 day moving averages in February and March, it became increasingly apparent that a lot of retail investors (and perhaps some institutional investors) were left under-invested while watching this recovery move from the sidelines.  The U.S. stock ...
Read more