You're still waiting for that stock to hit your buy price again
You bought $NVDA (NVIDIA Corporation) at 145 last spring. It dropped to 98. You told yourself you'd average down at 90. It never got there. Now it's back at 152 and you're sitting on the sidelines, furious, because your brain refuses to pay more than what you originally paid.
This is anchoring bias. Your mind latched onto that first purchase price like it means something sacred. It doesn't. The market has zero memory of what you paid. That number lives exclusively inside your head, and it's costing you real money.
Evolution wired us this way. Our ancestors needed fixed reference points to navigate a dangerous world. But in markets, anchoring to an arbitrary price turns you into a statue while opportunities walk past you.
I watched this happen with $TSLA (Tesla Motors, Inc.) through all of 2025. Investors who bought at 270 refused to re-enter at 310 after the pullback to 220 reversed. They kept waiting for 220 again. Meanwhile the stock pushed past 350.
Here is the fix I use. Every Sunday morning I open my watchlist and run what I call the blank slate test. For each position I ask myself one question: if I had zero shares today and fresh cash, would I buy this stock at this exact price? If the answer is yes, the old price is irrelevant. If no, I close it regardless of where I got in.
The price you paid is a diary entry. The price it trades at today is reality. Trade reality.
... Show More
Not investment advice. The author may have financial interests in the mentioned instruments.
We use our own and third-party cookies on our websites to enhance your experience, analyze traffic, and for security and marketing. For more info, see our Cookie Policy or go to Manage Settings.
Privacy Preference Center
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Cookie List
label
ConsentLeg.Interest
label
label
label
Mon Jun 15 2026 02:16:19 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
