Thanks Bill for starting this thread
I appreciate yours, Skeet's and redfish's views and references...
Having only been in this for 1.5 years...with some guidance from a conservative broker who does not touch startup biotechs at least for his clients...I have some allocated to large cap stocks, but also have a sizeable amount in startups that I picked up during the downdraft in 2002...
As a background, having always been involved in health care(clininal)...anything business had scared me since I had no education, nor quite frankly the interest...but due to circumstances beyond my control, I now have to manage this portfolio...even before the mutual fund scandals came out, I developed skepticism about them when our fund portfolio kept dropping precipitously...too busy being an end user of the bio's I now invest in...all the while, the fund managers kept encouraging people to stay in...only to watch one retirement fund lose 50%...I then decided I'd rather do my own managing. Read as much as I could, talked to family members who had some experience...
Long winded to say that 1) I really enjoy it more than I ever imagined...doing the research esp. the bio's since I find science fascinating...2) I've experienced the thrill of a few of my picks appreciating substantially(beginners luck picked during the broad bottom)...3) I'm currently going back and forth between what I want to buy/hold for long term steady gains, and what to buy for short term gains to meet near term financial goals...And very importantly for me, how much time to allocate to managing my portfolio...attention and time in other areas of my life ebbs and flows...
From following trends this past year, it seems I've held positions that stayed flat for a period of time for fear I'll miss out on the next news release which will propel them higher, and missed out on gains that could have been made by trading in and out...one seasoned investor I met from the boards on Yahoo has what I think is a balanced perspective...she's now a retired accountant and his been in the market for a long time...she does DD on companies she'd like to be in for long term...while also having about 5-8 stocks that are higher risk/greater return....she trades in and out of these to add to her core holdings...as one of the companies of the 5-8 evolve, she reviews them and based on her criteria decides if to trade out or place them in her long-term portfolio...and she'll buy at higher prices as the science(her high risk/reward plays are in bio) of the company gets validated....
Long post to say, I'm in the midst of trying to come up with my own strategy based on my long and short term goals, my liking being(grammar) involved in the stock market with it's associated risks and rewards...
I look forward to this dialogue continuing...
Regards,
Zeta |
