Greg, I think your experience in investing fits well with us. I am amazed at your reading all of the posts. I am in love with what I write, all pearls of wisdom, of course, but lets face it, the 10K plus posts on this thread contain a lot of chit-chat.
Bruce, your chart on the stocks I sold is interesting. I think I did as well, and usually much better, on what I bought when I sold. I really squeezed the eagle dry on AOL and Softy, I think they are at about what I sold them for.
The best motto I know on past investments, and other follies is:
"Never look back, you will die of remorse!"
I think the secret to my success the last 7 years is that I:
1: Never got into really risky companies, too chicken, I guess.
2:"pulled the trigger" at the first sign of trouble, and cut my losses. I sold 28 companies at a loss, for a total of about 25K, as I remember. That about equals the 25 to 30 companies that I got in, and right out of, for about a 25K profit.
Downsouth really summed it up when he reminded me of my comment on his portfolio a year ago. It was composed of Fortune 500 big names, like J&J and GE. I told him that I did not have time to wait to make money on the stocks he held.
When I started 7 years ago, I knew that I wanted to be at 1 million by age 65. I also knew that it was a very short time frame. That is why I have "cut to the chase" so often in my investment decisions.
I used to worry that my declining years would consist of my daughter telling me,
"Daddy, my husband hates it when you drool in your soup!"
Now my declining years will consist of saying things like,
"Oh boy, would you clean this mess up, please?" |
