Sneak Preview: Don't Sweat the Quarter

I sat down and looked at the periods when companies reported and saw how stocks did compared to when they don't report. The three weeks after the end of every quarter that companies report is almost always the time period when the least amount of money is made and the most is lost. That's why many of the professionals I know, including the best ones, have chosen simply not to buy anything during this period.

They want to see the news, they want to retreat to their offices, they want to make decisions after everyone reacts, and they want to do it all on their own time with no pressure. Only amateurs pressure themselves. Professionals remove the pressure, remove the noise, and make decisions at their own pace.

Will it cost them occasionally not to get in front of a good quarter? Of course. But it is much better to do the work on the quarter, watch and listen, and then pounce when the market gives you that break.

You don't have to take action. I don't want you taking action. I want you to make your decisions with as many facts as are available after the quarter, when everything there is to know is known.

That answer is always disappointing to those who want to make the quick trade. But I want the bigger bucks, and the biggest bucks cannot be made betting on the direction of a given quarter. After all, if the company is that good, this won't be its last good quarter.

Editor's note: This is a special sneak preview of Jim Cramer's just-released book, Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer). Look for more sneak previews every day, and get your free copy with your annual subscription to Action Alerts PLUS; click here for details. Catch Cramer in person to get it signed: Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. in Bridgewater, N.J.'s Borders; and Saturday, Jan. 12, at 1 p.m. in Westbury, Long Island's Costco.

Missed the first sneak previews? Read the book intro and the rules of getting and staying rich: Rule 1, Rule 2, Rule 3, Rule 4 and Rule 5. Know what pros do right and amateurs do wrong: Part 1.

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