Friends,
Apollo 13 chronicles the fate of a NASA crew that was supposed to land on the moon, but ends up in a fight to return to Earth.
The climax centers around the crew trying to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere with limited capabilities. It didn't look rosy:
NASA official #1: "Let me put it this way:
* The trajectory may be off
* The thrusters may be frozen
* Their guidance system might be malfunctioning
* Their heat shield could be cracked
* Their parachutes might be three blocks of ice."
NASA official #2: "Ok, now I'm asking you: When will we know?"
NASA official #1: "The blackout lasts for three minutes. If they're not back in four, we'll know."
The brilliance of the movie is that the audience then experiences three minutes and 31 seconds in real time -- watching the characters sit there and wait to see if the astronauts survived.
It demonstrates vividly how long just a few short minutes can feel.
That's an important story to remember when it comes to investing.
One of the most successful investments I've (Stoffel, here) ever had was an April 2010 purchase of Amazon. It has returned 3,000% since then.
Look closely at that chart. Do you see the little red blip at the beginning? It doesn't look like much. But during the first nine weeks of owning the stock, it fell 25%.
This is what that felt like.
It's easy to look back and smile now. But count up those dots: nearly 50 days of pain. I was a beginning investor. It was not fun. Nine weeks felt like an eternity.
This experience underscores why we named our venture Long Term Mindset.
We know how hard it is to be patient. We know the most difficult thing is sometimes doing nothing. And that's why we've established this community here -- as a constant reminder that when we focus on the long-term, we tilt the scales in our favor.
Wishing you investing success,
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Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers
Long Term Mindset
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