To: Sergio H who wrote (49828 ) 10/19/2012 5:58:16 PM From: Paul Senior 1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) | Respond to I said Graham set a price target and time frame and now I think you agree. So, why not apply Graham's selling philosophy since this is a thread about Graham value? Paul, your sell decision is not based on any metric, so I labeled it instinct. Your own words for selling decision have been posted many times. Looking at a sample of my 50 past gain sales, it looks like I sold 3 (6%) because I primarily just got tired of holding shares; there were 2 (4%) takeovers; I made 16 (32%) sales for a combo of reasons -- FEAR of losing a profit played a part; and 29 (54%) primarily because my expectations were met (revert-to-mean; stock price made metrics unattractive). how do you defend using instinct as a reason to sell and call it value investment "Instinct" as you say, is your label. I have characterized some of my selling behavior as fear. When my fear gets the better of me, I'll sometimes sell or sell down, regardless. Good for others if they are not influenced by this emotion and have the confidence/conviction of their ideas. How do I defend fear as a reason to sell? Sometimes as the cliche goes, your first sale is your best sale. Just because something appears to be a value investment and I call it a value investment, doesn't mean it is or if it is, that I have to own it. I'm comfortable being uncomfortable with many of my stock picks. Doesn't mean I'm not subject to bouts of fear and that I won't act on that by selling.
