Hi everyone,
First post, but I've been following this board since early Jan. of last year. As a result of you all sharing your thoughts, I decided to subscribe to BTT in Feb. of last year and I am the guy they quoted in their Sunday report.
Thank you PT for your kind words. Based on what I've read here (all posts since 2012), my investing journey closely resembles yours. A big thank you to Mr. C, whose explanations of CANSLIM's shortcomings on his IBD thread gave voice to the growing intuitive misgivings I had had of that system.
PT, you say it took a lot of "nerve and confidence" and I thought I'd add a little color to that. It did take confidence, but in this case not so much nerve to concentrate funds like I did.
Using leverage, I started 2016 by buying A and B, and eventually eight other stocks that never amounted to much. By mid-summer my portfolio was up nearly 100% when I decided to take my profits on A. It had ran up 12-13 days in a row and I thought it was due for a pullback. Instead, it traded sideways so I bought it back.
Then Brexit kicked me out of B and freed up funds. So at this point I had to make a decision. B was still good, but A had already proven itself to be powerful leader, and was less expensive than B so I could buy a more sizable position. I was also sitting on a 100% portfolio gain and had a lot of confidence A would continue to climb. There were also no other ideas that really interested me at the time.
Even if I was horribly wrong and A rolled over and fell, I'd still end the year with portfolio gains well north of 50%. That's a fantastic return. If I was right.....well, we see how that turned out :-D.
So, it really didn't take much nerve. I saw it as a no-lose trade. The risk to reward ratio was too good to pass up. Yes, I may have left a lot of money on the table if I was wrong, but that's OK. I'd just make it back on some other trade. "No one ever went broke making a profit".
Thanks again to you all for sharing your thoughts. |
