In this market, the most deadly move is mergers and acquisitions. Once you start acquiring, the market will repeatedly hammer your stock price—because you have announced a naked fact to everyone: we are not doing well, we need to buy something to save ourselves. The market hates this signal the most. It will continue to punish you, time and again. Your stock price will face selling pressure from all directions because investors have read the hidden truth behind the M&A—internal growth has become sluggish, and management has no better solutions. That’s why confident companies never engage in frequent M&A; they spend their money on R&D, innovation, and buybacks. And those companies that maintain growth through acquisitions? The market has already sentenced them to death.