Fooled & Fueled All too often we remember what we need to forget and forget what we need to remember. History has proven investors have short-term memories. Hot sectors pop up and investors are fooled and fueled into making poor investment decisions that lead to disaster. The “fool” part is the belief that somehow this time is different, and the “fuel” is the hype. We seek what we don’t have and abandon what we’ve been given once we have it. Investors are often told this time is different and that the fundamentals don’t matter. The thought process is often something like, “Don’t pay attention to whether the company or the sector earns money–someday it will.” So, investors who have saved and invested for years in traditional quality companies migrate to this new world of change. Every decade, we face one to three new sectors that seem to be fueled by hype and even show early results and promise–only to look back later at carnage or wrecked finances. So, how do we balance our reason? First, if a company or sector doesn’t make money or have