I was reminded of this fact after sharing our recent post, "Amazon dominates as its rivals plunge", on social media last Friday. Just the mention of Amazon and its stock price was enough to elicit the usual chorus of "Amazon is doomed, just you wait and see" remarks.
Later that weekend, I happened to stumble upon this early tirade against Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos (hat tip: Pessimists Archive). When I saw this Google News entry from August 2000, I had to take a screenshot for posterity.
Doubters on Amazon $AMZN go back to .com bubble. They were right in a bear market, very wrong long term. pic.twitter.com/cm8EyhwpD0— David Shvartsman (@FinanceTrends) November 15, 2015While some of Amazon.com's early critics were proved right about the trajectory of AMZN's stock price during the 2000 - 2002 bear market (it sank like a stone, along with nearly every other dot com bubble high-flyer), they ended up being very wrong about:
a) the company's survival
b) its astounding growth and success
c) Jeff Bezos' vision for the company and
d) its stock price over the longer term (multiple market cycles).
And guess what? I'm wrong too because, knowing what I know now, I never took a position in Amazon's stock. Maybe I'll wise up and buy AMZN after the next bear market ends. Live and learn, gang. Live and learn.
It just doesn't pay to sell a proven winner like Amazon short.
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