>>Unfortunately, I took Catherine's advice----or some other T/A's advice---and
sold----nice little profit----but none of the following runups and splits------a bit
short of the 1.4 million I would have had I just held the stock.<<
Nope, it wasn't my advice. I'm actually a buy and hold type myself.
I think you're missing my point, though. Point being that (as I think Peter Lynch said) just because the stock goes up, that doesn't mean you were right. Just because it goes down, that doesn't mean you were wrong. The trade isn't a winner (or a loser) until the money's in the bank. That may be next week, or it may be 20 years from now, but until you transform the stock back into cash, it's just so much paper. Everyone always asks when was the right time to sell Microsoft or Walmart, but is anyone bragging about holding on to Boston Chicken or Iomega?
(Just ask the Internuts, who looked like geniuses in mid-April but have lost ~50% or more since then.)
Katherine |
