Ed, maybe neither smart man nor lucky man... I have been totally indifferent all these months, starting with not liking the action in the spring, and then a summer health problem which has made me uncharacteristically apathetic towards the markets. Held all my long positions, big winners and some big losers (LOR) and am about net flat on my current positions (took some big gains in the beginning of the year). OTOH, my IRA, which had been all cash until early March, when I loaded up with mostly defense stocks, was up 45% as of yesterday, with 20% still in cash. Since I had double the number of shares of LIT, as opposed to NOC (luck) today was still a good day for the IRA.
End of year has always been a big trading time for me, and I am trying to wipe the cobwebs out of my brain and make some smart moves. This is a bit hard as I've only been peripherally watching the gyrations. Hoping for a little help here. Just saw that you bought LOR. That's the only loser in the IRA, and in the non-IRA is counterbalancing some of the big defense gains. Think I should buy a bunch more? What do you see as a target? Also, do you follow ORB? Used to trade this one a lot a long time ago, but haven't touched it since I sold at 21 on its way to 50. Going to take a look at NOVL and IFMX too. This year I'm looking for more than just a quick bounce since I'm having surgery in January, and won't be following the market that closely for a week or two. |
