Unusually large gains in a stock are often followed by profit-taking. Unusually large gains in a stock are often followed by profit-taking. Unusually large gains in a stock are often followed by profit-taking. Unusually large...
This is my mantra this morning, for I have awakened to discover that my portfolio has lost $110. SHLD down $3.60, TOL down $2.15, even PXR is down $0.53 and is now below where I bought it, and Blackboard (BBBB) is down thirty cents. The biggest losers are also the biggest recent gainers. Tech rally? Smech rally, more like: XLK is down sixteen cents.
Damn you, Mr. Market! Why can't you continue to give me free money indefinitely? That is all I have ever asked of you!
Unfortunately, my transaction costs are high enough as a percentage of my holdings that I'm wary of trying to time the profit-taking to get back in at a lower price. There's no guarantee I'd be able to sell off right before the price goes down, no guarantee that it will in fact go down, and of course no guarantee that it will go back up after I buy in again. So I might as well keep 'em.
In better news, NWY is up sixteen cents, as is EEM. NWY's rise, along with TOL's and BBBB's decline, has totally rearranged my top three gainers again: now it's NWY, followed by TOL and BBBB.
If I reload my Scottrade account all these numbers will change, which is why I usually talk numbers only at the end of the day. But I just had to share with you the horror... the horror... I need some coffee, and I don't even drink coffee. Usually.
Easy come, easy go... I'll keep holding on, since now I have "only" made $900 in two months on a $7000 contribution, and meeting my goal of 20% will require me to make $1400 by the end of the year.
Update: The final tally was not nearly so disastrous; I closed down only about $45.
Posted by kindall at July 21, 2005 08:19 AM