I want to discuss with you a phenomenon that has applications in the investing world and beyond: anchoring. Simply put, anchoring occurs when someone tells you a fact or opinion, and then you use that information to make a series of decisions thereafter (that are based on that first bit of information).

If someone performs their own analysis and concludes that Berkshire Hathaway is worth $150 per share, the fact that the price is $115 per share at the time they perform their analysis will affect their subsequent decisions. If, say, the stock goes up to $145, they may be reluctant to buy (even though it is still $5 less than their estimate of value) simply because the twenty percent rise in the price of the stock somehow indicated that it is now expensive.

You see it all the time with people who conclude “that stock is at a 52 … Read the rest of this article!