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Non-Tech : Any info about Iomega (IOM)? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (37693)	11/28/1997 2:32:00 PM
From: Spank	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 58324

Gary: someone mentioned low-volume up-days as bearish. What say you? -Spank OT "Not to knock FIDO as I have pulled similar boners..." Is back to the "Rocky's genius" confessional theme again?

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (37693)	11/28/1997 9:46:00 PM
From: FuzzFace	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 58324

OT to Gary Gary, before becoming too frustrated with or superior to us traders, remind yourself that if the day after you bought a stock it doubled, you would most likely sell it. Here at SI, my favorite expression is "an investor is a speculator that guessed wrong." I like IOM as much as you do, but if I had sold each time it reached a new high, and bought back 2 points lower, I'd have done much better over the last 11 months than double my money. But whenever it did set a new higher trading range, the overly-bullish sentiment (usually from this thread) always lulled me into staying in at the high. Then after the inevitable pullback, overly-bearish sentiment (usually just in my own mind) convinced me not to buy more on the way down. One thing I am trying to do now is break out of the cycle. I think IOM is a stock that is safe to buy on the dips, and sell on the peaks. The keys are to stay at least 50% in cash while waiting for the inevitable buying opportunities, and have the courage to risk missing a few points when it sets a new, higher trading range. Yes I bought back 500 higher than I last sold, but I didn't buy all 2000 back because I must retain enough cash while a new range is being set to avoid being whipsawed. But I am acknowledging that my first guess was wrong about the new trading range's high. IMO, IOM is being bolstered by new speculators. It is not behaving "normally", that is, the way it has for over 6 months. It could be seasonal. Or it could be due to it entering a new phase, like it did 6 months ago. Whatever the cause, this transition won't last long. A new trading range will develop, and I'll try to play it. I can't see this stock doubling overnight. But, if it does, that's the breaks. I can handle it.. I've been wrong before, and I'll be wrong again, but if I can muster 1/2 the patience being out of IOM that I had being in it over the last year, I ought to do better than "buy and hold", by waiting for the inevitable dips. This is only something one can do with an acceptable degree of risk on a stock in a long term up trend, as IOM is in. But most importantly, if I can reclaim some of the peace of mind that being 100% invested destroys, by being at least 50% in cash most of the time, it will be worth it. When I read about Truff crying the day the Dow dropped 500+, I really felt for her. I remembered March, the month 1/3 of my portfolio disappeared and how close to crying I was. Like her, I stayed the course and almost doubled my money 2 months later (Since then, I've lost 20%.) I fully respect and appreciate your style of investing, having done it myself. But as someone else recently said on a thread, "buy and hold" doesn't work very well for tech stocks. It has worked for IOM better than most, but that too could change quickly. So you see, I'm tired of the roller-coaster. I've decided it's all right to take breaks. Fido's approach is about right for me, too, right now. Anyway, that's my current thinking. I'll let you know how it all works out next year. Good Investing P.S. I've enjoyed your rationally exuberant posts a lot. Please don't ever stop. <g> P.P.S. I reserve the right to tease myself about my mistakes, but don't read too much into it. I'm doing alright.

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (37693)	11/29/1997 4:02:00 AM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

>>Edwin Re: I'm hoping to do better playing the dips like Fidough. You are kidding, aren't you? I do not think selling @ $31, 31.50, 32.00 and 32.50 and buying all those shares back at $32.375 is going to help you retire anytime soon.<< Gary - Being somewhat new around here, you wouldn't know this, but FIDO has done an excellent job of playing the ups and downs with IOM. The shares he sold between 31 and 32.50 were all bought in the twenties, if I'm not mistaken. Sure, he may have missed a couple of fractions on the upside when he rebought them, but no one can call every pullback correctly. The fact that he decided to get back in at a price point above his recent sales just makes me feel more confident about staying long right now. Of course, we could still see the pullback FIDO was counting on when he sold, but I'm starting to believe that the twenties are behind us now. Until the split, that is. - Allen