OFF TOPIC--DIVERSIFY/LEVERAGE. Todd, there are no silver bullets/magic formulas/whatever. Over time, you learn common sense. Hopefully.
Diversify is a great idea.
So is leverage.
Also, be aware of what the risks are.
These are trite. But true.
Lawrence Kam, who is very sharp, says you misunderstood him. He knows certain kinds of leverage can be dangerous. And if you are getting telegrams, I guess you know this from personal experience.
What you do is up to you. But if you are using margin, maybe you should reduce your margin balance, even if it means taking some losses. I really have little to almost no idea what your positions are, but if you are fully margined, and the balance is significant, you could lose a lot of money if things go wrong.
I was really stupid, and I knew better, but I was margined to the hilt, and I kept buying more QNTM and WDC as they were going up. I also had some APM. So I was overleveraged, and overconcentrated. And when the disk drive sector got slammed, I lost a bundle.
And if I hadn't sold out in October, it would have been even worse. Much worse.
But it was hindsight that shows the tech sector kept dropping after October.
What I'm trying to say is, don't risk more than you can afford to lose.
You can make money in the stock market. Over time. But if you try to make it too fast, you can also go broke. And if you really are getting margin calls, you should seriously think about reducing your risk. Even if it means taking some losses, or reducing the amount of money you will make if the stocks you own suddenly go back up.
P.S. I'm better at giving advice than following it. |
