In this video, Motley Fool financial analyst Matt Koppenheffer references a quote from famed stock investor Peter Lynch about how often we get our investment picks correct. He discusses how so many of us focus on how to be right all the time, when, in fact, there is so much to learn from the times when we're wrong. He highlights two of his own investments that didn't go quite right, in US Bancorp (USB 0.59%) and Bank of America (BAC 0.81%), and tells us what the big takeaways for him were that made him a better investor today.
3 Ways to Fail Well As a Stock Picker
By Matt Koppenheffer – Jan 5, 2013 at 12:00PM
NYSE: BAC
Bank of America
Market Cap
$382B
Today's Change
(-0.81%) $0.42
Current Price
$51.10
Price as of October 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM ET
No one hits 10 out of 10. No one even hits nine out of 10. But if you're good, then when you fail, you fail right.
About the Author
Matt is the head of the Coverage Team for The Motely Fool's premium products. Previously, he's been . Matt is a heavy user of AI tools and is working on harnessing them to help Fool members. Previously, Matt was GM of Motley Fool Ascent, led The Motley Fool Deutschland, has been an investor on various Fool services, and co-hosted the podcast "Where the Money Is". He also co-authored the book The Astonishing Collapse of MF Global. Matt started his career in San Francisco as a technology-focused investment banker and also worked at a $15 billion private equity company. When he's thinking about how to make Fools smarter, happier, and richer, you can usually find Matt running trails or making a mess in the kitchen. He's a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, but is a lifelong fan of Penn State football.