According to data provided by the London Stock Exchange (LSE), there are currently 1,705 financial instruments on the FTSE available to buy right now. With such a huge number to choose from it can be bewildering deciding which one(s) to purchase. That’s probably why some people follow the crowd and choose the most popular. After all, if lots of investors are buying one particular stock, it makes sense to copy them, right? Er, no. For this strategy to be successful, it assumes that most have done their research properly and correctly identified a company that’s financially sound. And has sufficient growth opportunities to make its share price rise. But what if the majority have done no research and the only basis for buying is FOMO (fear of missing out)? The Dutch tulip bubble of the 1600s is a classic example of this. At one point, a single bulb sold for 10 times the annual salary of a skilled worker. After buying tulips like everyone else, many lost their life savings, once the market crashed. They failed to take a step back and consider whether the bull run was sustainable. London Stock Exchange data tells me that the most popular FTSE...