Wall street’s “sell” is most often about a story … and who wouldn’t invest in a company that is attempting to cure cancer rather than one that sells burritos if you could only own one? That’s anti-American isn’t it? The difference (so far) this year between the best and worst performing stocks that are within the sp500 index is a trivial 130%+. The top performing stock is Chipotle Mexican Grill, up more than 87% while the worst performing is Nektar Therapeutics, a biotech company creating products that are targeted at curing cancer is down more than 44%.
This, by no means is meant to disparage Nektar any more than it is to promote Chipotle. Rather, an example of why, if you want the best returns, you need to find other (or supplemental) reasons than just a story.