life without joy Glenn, I also lost money on Ascend as it went south. But I got out and flipped short. We were all dreaming of a return to the 80's and the wealth that would follow.
You mention a high risk investing style. I believe there are many different approaches/styles to investing and that they are all valid. I have a small library on the stock market and I love to read. From the beginning $9.95 paperbacks to the $175 Street Smarts by Connors & Raschke, they all say the same thing ***money management***. Limit your losses, you must protect your account.
By throwing darts at the newspaper, a good money manager can make more money than a superb technical analyst that has no money management skills. You must protect your account and learn to take and enjoy a quick loss. Wm O'Neil's book, "How to Make Money in Stocks" ($10.95) has an excellent chapter on money mangement (Chapter 9). If you read and follow chapter 9, you will never have to worry about life without joy.
Think of it like this. If you pick a winning stock and buy into an uptrend, you can make 30% or more. If you pick a losing stock and limit your losses to 7%, you can only lose about 7%. You can be wrong 4 out of 5 times and still make 2% or better. Those are great odds. Bernard Baruch, Joe Kennedy and many of the greats, when interviewed, stated that they never even wait for 7%, they get out a lot earlier. But with the volatility of today's Nasdaq, 7% to 10% might be a better guideline.
Glenn, I understand that you are not a beginner and most likely are an experienced investor. I don't mean to insult you with a beginner's book. But O'Neil was interviewed by Schwager in "Market Wizards" and his principles summarized in that classic book. A return to the basics can never hurt. Every time I failed to follow that simple rule of limiting losses, I cried. If I had limited every losing position, and rode evry winner, I would not even be trading now; my assistants would be handling all that stuff for me while I was down on an island somewhere. I am trying to discipline myself in my trading. That is the hardest part and that is the key. I'm full of advice and trying my hardest to follow it as well.
I hope the joy returns to your life; hey, it's only rock 'n' roll.
Harry |
