Western Union (WU)
There was a time when I looked at Western Union (WU) trading below $10 and thought, “This must be a bargain.” After all, it’s a household name, a legacy brand in global money transfers. In my mind, the low price signaled opportunity, a discount on a well-known company that had been around for ages.
But then the stock dipped even lower.
And I didn’t buy.
Western Union (WU)
Because the truth is, buying the dip sounds a lot easier than it feels. When prices fall, uncertainty rises. Questions swirl: “What if it drops further? What am I missing?” The same low valuation that once seemed like a green flag suddenly becomes a red one.
Today, WU just hit another 52-week low. And again, I didn’t buy. Not because I don’t remember Warren Buffett’s famous advice — “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful” — but because living those words is far harder than quoting them. When fear is in the air, being greedy isn’t natural. It’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s downright paralyzing.
And when that discomfort sets in, my mind gets creative but not in a good way. I start coming up with perfectly rational, logical-sounding reasons not to buy: “Western Union has too much competition. PayPal, Venmo, Wise, even crypto. It’s a shrinking business. Maybe it’s cheap for a reason.”
And maybe that’s true.
Or maybe I’m just protecting myself from making a decision I fear could go wrong.
There’s a big difference between recognizing a stock is undervalued and having the conviction to act on it. That gap — the space between knowledge and action — is where most investors stumble, including me.
Western Union is a classic case study in value trap vs. opportunity. Yes, it’s cheap by traditional metrics. But is it cheap because the business is fading into irrelevance? Or is it misunderstood in a market obsessed with growth and tech?
Honestly, I don’t know the answer. But what I do know is this: It’s easy to be a value investor in theory. Much harder when the chart is bleeding red.
Sometimes the real battle isn’t between bulls and bears. It’s between logic and emotion, conviction and hesitation. And in that battle, I often find myself sitting on the sidelines — watching, thinking, rationalizing… but not acting.
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