Under constant pressure to out-perform the competition and the relevant benchmarks, fund managers and investors sometimes end up mistiming the market or panicking and then making ill-advised changes to their portfolios. With that in mind, are there lessons that they might learn from watching entertainment competitions on reality show TV? According to Brett Steenbarger of the popular Trader Feed blog, there are five lessons that traders can learn from watching "American Idol":
(1) It's a marathon, not a sprint, when it comes to measuring investment performance;
(2) Know your strengths and go with them;
(3) Success comes from picking your own trading style and sticking to it, rather than mimicking others;
(4) While dreams and lofty goals are important, skill and experience are just as important;
(5) The market is an important feedback mechanism - listen to it.
This last point is an interesting one - "The verdicts of the markets may sound more like Simon than Paula, but they provide important information for the next performance." Knowing why a certain investment decision didn't work out as planned can lead to improved performance the next time around.
[image: Idols Together by jmtimages on Flickr]
