Originally Posted by
bababoooie
My Four long term stocks WERE SIRI (1.79) AIG(1.55) ,and GM (8.36), And WFC(8.41).
Yea....that's were.... as in kick me....HARD!
I set my trailing loss too low for WFC and took a 15% profit. I guess as mistakes go, that wasn't bad.
I went with advise given to me upon entering the stocks:
1) Set your PROFIT goals
Be realistic with your numbers compare against competitors, take
the economy into consideration. New Innovations on horizon. Mergers
& Aquisitions and are Debts going away?
2) Set Your Loss limits (What can you AFFORD to loose?)
Be realistic again with this number. If you want to ride it to the
bottom like the Titanic, remember it took 100 year for parts of it to
surface again. If you can afford this risk, the rewards are outstanding.
(Plus you never know, you may be bit players in a movie...LOL)
3) Set your time limits.
The time limits you invest have the biggest impact on the return,
Patience pays off!! Remember that Pops come in ups and downs.
After answering the first two questions. Short, Long, or
undetermined Time periods should be set. Set an HARD time frame
for your re-evaluation of the Stock. Has your requirements been met
for Debt, Product, or Service.
4) Look back but Never regret
Every Stock market transactions is an education. Making a decision
is NEVER wrong the first time! Repeatedly Buying High and Selling Low
is making someone rich, but not you. Learning from your mistakes is
fantastic, learning from other peoples mistakes is preferred.
With the market the way it is today rule number 1 is almost impossible to determine! But, I broke the number 2 rule with WFC a couple of weeks ago. Seeing WFC at 16.97 in after hours today....AAAAGH.....well that will tech me to loosen my trailing loss to maintain profit. My gut reaction was to sit and ride out the storm for about ten months to a year before setting the limits. I was influenced by a friend at work, to set a limit to capture the profit.
My next purchase target is to see if the Government will LOAN more money to GM. I made a partial buy, way too early. I will bring my average down to half of where it is right now, and then sit on the stock for about a year. Looking at dealership lots now versus three months ago shows that recovery is starting. This recovery will also translate into a new batch of SIRUS Subscribers for the new Vehicles. I found That the domestic sales numbers were encouraging and support the street view of vehicles in the Dealrship lots!!
