Motley Fool/Yahoo!: Don't Dismiss Negative Sentiment [the overuse of 'FUD']

"Well, sure, lots of stockholders hate fear, uncertainty, and doubt, better known by the acronym of FUD."

"I hate the term FUD. I hate how it is used and overused, and I especially think that it gives people an excuse to avoid thinking about the risks to their investments. It is the most abused, overused excuse of an argument that I see on stock bulletin boards. Well, just after the "basher" or "short seller argument." But really, the application comes from the same place."

"People don't want to think unhappy thoughts. I dig that. But unhappy thoughts are not going to destroy your portfolio. And happy thoughts are not going to take it to the Promised Land. In fact, I am fully and completely convinced that the investor who is willing to think and analyze unhappy thoughts is going to come out ahead of the one who does not 99% of the time. The other 1%? Well, either the rose-colored glasses investor is blindly lucky, or the analytical one is unfortunately incompetent."

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