Contrarian trading, though, is the exact opposite of those momentum
traders, and it also has the possibility to work very well. The belief in the
contrarian strategy is that things aren't going to continue to rise forever and
that nothing will fall forever.
The contrarian investment style goes against
the market trends that are
currently prevailing by purchasing assets that are performing poorly, and
sell them once they are performing well. This type of investor believes that
when another person says that the market is moving up, does so when they
are completely invested and aren’t planning on purchasing more. This
means
the market is at its peak, which means a downturn is about to
happen, and the contrarian investor has already sold.
A trader that uses the contrarian strategy will look for assets that have been
on the rise and will sell them, and they prefer to buy stocks that have been
falling in price. It doesn't mean that you should buy
cheap or sell but instead
look for things that appear to be overpriced and to buy what looks to be a
bargain. Contrarian investment also places emphasis on out-of-favor
securities that have a low P/E ratio.
This investment style is distinguished from others in that they buy and sell
against the grain of what other investors believe at a given time. These
investors will enter the market when others feel pessimistic about it, and its
value is a lot lower than the intrinsic value.
When there is such a largely
pessimistic view about a stock, the chances
of the price lowering so low
that the risks and downfalls of the stock are overblown. Finding out which
of the distressed stocks to purchase and then sell it after the company has
recovered will boost the value of the stock. This is the main play of the
contrarian investor.