Stocks That Burned Me: An Honest Reflection on My Investing Blunders
Where I went wrong, the warning signs I missed and how I’m improving my process
Investing is a lifelong learning process, and some of the most valuable lessons come from our biggest mistakes. It’s easy to focus on winners, but avoiding big losses is just as—if not more—important than finding the next multibagger.
Over time, I’ve learned that value investing is not about maximizing upside—it’s about minimizing downside. The more you limit losses, the higher your long-term returns. The problem? We only realize how flawed our assumptions were after the damage is done.
Why Reflecting on Mistakes Matters
Every investor makes bad calls, but the difference between great investors and mediocre ones is how they analyze and learn from mistakes. Over the past 3 years, I sold 21 stocks, 9 of them at a loss. Many errors come down to repeatable patterns, and by recognizing them, we can avoid falling into the same traps again.
Some common ways investors lose money:
Overestimating a company’s competitive advantage
Ignoring balance sheet risk and focusing only on earnings growth
Chasing high growth without considering reinvestment needs
Falling for a great story while ignoring valuation discipline
Holding onto a losing stock due to emotional attachment
In my case, I’ve made many of these mistakes—and paid the price.
My Worst Investing Mistakes (High-Level Overview)
I’ve had my fair share of painful losses over the years, and looking back, I can identify clear patterns. Here are a few of the biggest missteps:
I misjudged a business model, thinking it was a value-added company rather than a cyclical commodity business. I trusted management’s optimistic projections despite clear signs that earnings could collapse.
I overpaid for a high-growth stock, ignoring valuation discipline. When growth slowed post-COVID, I kept averaging down instead of admitting I had been too optimistic.
I put too much faith in management’s expansion plans, only to realize they were overpromising and diversifying into weaker businesses. I also ignored my own ethical concerns.
Each of these losses had a different cause, but they all taught me valuable lessons about risk, valuation and business quality.
The Real Question: What can we learn from these mistakes—and how do we avoid repeating them?
Want the Full Breakdown?
In the premium section, I break down my biggest investing losses in full detail, including:
✅ The specific stocks where I lost the most money (and the biggest errors I made)
✅ A breakdown of the X patterns that caused these losses
✅ How I’m changing my investment process to avoid similar mistakes