as i have said, i have nothing against shorting and it is something that i want to learn, i am currently short TOY, more as an experiment and learning experience than anything else, but also because i don't see how their current situation justifies a valuation any higher than 12 bucks a share...i am currently in the red on my position by about 20 cents a share, but i am staying short because i believe the stock is worth less than it is trading for, just like i would stay long a stock where i was in the red if the fundamentals haven't changed
my only beef with people who short is with the ones who publish, or have published for them, misinformation about the companies they are shorting, and i have the same beef with people who hype stocks on the long side
my comments regarding the short positions were in response to the questions that have been posted here and on the other thread on several occasions asking why more people don't participate in the Z port...i maintain that the port had basically gotten to be a scalping exercise, with most trades being posted with no justification, thus generating almost no discussion and no learning....if the port was meant to be a place where stocks were followed and discussed, then it was far from that from what i could see
everyone has losing trades, my quarrel was not with the short positions that lost money, but with shorting the strongest stocks in the market, and making that the lion's share of the portfolio....i see nothing wrong with having one person employing that strategy if that is how they trade on a daily basis...perhaps others can learn from it, if nothing else they see it and can decide if it's anything they would want to try, but it shouldn't be the bulk of the activity and assets if the portfolio is meant to be a learning experience and helpful to those who follow it
clearly you make a living at your style of trading, as otherwise you wouldn't have time to post here like you do because you would be busy with a job, so it's great that it works for you, and i was not trying to have you excluded from the portfolio or to change your methodology, far be it from me to try to push my style of investing/trading on anyone, i was just looking for ways to make the thread and port more useful, and addressing the questions which have been raised
one thing i will note however, is that you said the gains today make up for a month of losses...it's great that you had a great day, at least someone made some money today, but it also lends credence to what i have said about fighting the overall trend of the market...i had a brutal day in terms of dollar losses in my accounts, the worst i have had since 2002, yet all i gave back was my gains from the past 3+ market days, or about 15% of my gains for the month of january...i see this as the difference between going with the trend and fighting the trend....JMHO, but i think there is validity to that comparison...you said that performance is judged over years, but those years are made up of months, and my goal is to make money each month..day to day is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but fighting the trend for months on end seems rather counterproductive, in terms of maximizing the gains one makes on the opportunities which exist at any given time...it would be hard to legitimately justify the price that TASR is trading at fundamentally, but clearly the money in TASR has been made on the long side for months now...it may well fall back significantly in the months ahead, but even if you are right in the long run, how much opportunity is missed in the meantime?
i reiterate JMHO and i reiterate that i have nothing against shorting at all <g>
carl |
