I have investments in both stocks and unit trusts.  However, the investing mentality in both can be quite different. These different mentalities can both be a boon and a bane for successful investing in them.

Before I go into the details, I should mention that I generally adopt a market-timing strategy (for when to buy and sell) and value investing (for what to buy) for my stock investments. Please see Have A Plan for more details. However, for my unit trust investments, I adopt a Dollar Cost Averaging strategy with monthly investments into index and balanced funds. The differences in investment strategies explain some of the differences in the investing mentality in both types of investment.

For stocks, as we know, they can be quite volatile. You will never know for sure whether they will go up or come down. When a stock that you own has gone ...