Life of a gambler :)
although I think even tho we like to say its a calculated risk, the truth is- we are all here pretty much because we love the game, the thrill, and the gamble.. but the problem I have found with longer term investing is that its either gotta be a 1-3 month position trade, or a 5-10 year investment. Not much in between that.. Its much easier to predict a move in a short term trade than it is to see where things will be next year or the year after.
My problem with overallocating is sorta like buying a container of pringles.. You cant just eat one.. in fact, ill usually eat the entire container.. but yet ill hike 15-25 miles a week, workout, and always watch what I eat- but just get me in the right mood and ill throw all the health conscience crappola down the tubes.. Every day with stocks I have to fight the urge.. wether im upset that I sold too soon on a trade, or it just didnt go my way..
Thats the big lure to trading for me.. because I realize that its all about me.. my weaknesses all get exposed and stand between me and financial freedom.. My demons all come to the surface at 9:30am each morning and they whisper 'oh cmon! JDSU at 26! its gonna bounce! do 2000 shares and just go for it! pull the trigger!' and of course, after the trigger is pulled, win or loss you sit there feeling empty because you realize the risk you just took.. just like eating that entire container of pringles and realizing that come tomorrow morning, not only did you put enough cholesterol in your system to knock over an elephant, but also be sick to my stomach the entire next day.
In the 7 years ive been doing this, if I could go back and take out every compulsive trade I did? I would be wealthy.. and if you look at my statements from this year you can see how I slipped maybe 3-4 times, and wouldnt you know that aside from 1 huge gain, the other 3 were monster loses that helped lower my returns on hard earned smaller returns..
of course slipping 4 times this year is compared to last year where i slipped maybe 50 times.. although last year (99), I almost went bankrupt betting the entire farm short on ADSP at 10, and the next day it went to 60 plus, so that was a bit of a wakeup call that never left my mind.. |
