Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E_K_S who wrote (56012)	9/7/2015 8:36:55 PM
From: Elroy	Respond to of 79005

It would be interesting to see what others do when looking to sell a position. This is the hardest part of the equation for me. If I buy a stock, and its working well, I almost never sell it. If I buy a stock, and it doesn't work well, I usually hold it (for the same reasons that I bought it) and wait for it to work well. Even if I buy a stock, and something changes so that the reason I bought no longer is valid, the valuation by the time I realize that has usually fallen so much already, that I hold on to it anyway. In fact, in these cases, if the initial story is in any way in tact, I will often triple down on the depressed stock. Trades like that (where I own a stock, something goes horribly wrong and the stock falls by 80%, but the story is sort of still there, so I triple or quadruple down at $4 on the stock I initially liked at $18) are where I've made huge outsized gains over the years. As a result, I almost never sell unless I buy something, the story changes in a bad way, I hold it for a few years, and just get sick of it and give up. Not much of a "sell" strategy, but that's how it works for me.

To: E_K_S who wrote (56012)	9/8/2015 12:41:59 AM
From: Jurgis Bekepuris	1 Recommendation Recommended By E_K_S Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 79005

E_K_S, My approach to investing is changing a lot in the last year or so, so I don't think I can give you good turnover figures. I sold a lot in January 2015 and moved money into long-term (hold forever haha) positions. My buys/sells in August 2015 affected about 12% of my portfolio, July was 6%, June 4%, May 7%, April 7%, March 10%. Sales (as opposed to buys) were 3% of portfolio in August, July 1%, June 2%, May 4%, April 2%, March 6%. I included fixed income buys and sales into the figures above. August sales were predominantly position swaps, i.e. swapping something I like less to something I like more. I can't say these worked out well for me in the past, but I do engage in them especially in volatile market. July: sold DRAGF that received buyout offer June: sold some BAC - I think this was mistake, but I just don't have a strong belief in Moynihan. I see that I missed BH tender in my reports - sorry, I tendered most of my BH shares, since I did not like Biglari's power and money grab. May: I sold most of my fixed income positions May-April: sold GLRE and TPRE, since I decided that these were not good long-term holds. April: sold IBM expecting continued weak results. March-January: my portfolio restructuring, so not much comment. So, overall, my recent sales were: 1. Position swaps 2. Buyouts & tenders 3. Fixed income sales 4. BAC - mistake?? I am trying to position my portfolio for very long term holds + situation plays (currently oil & gas) + speculative asymmetric plays. The first ones should not be sold much if at all. Situation plays should be sold when they work out. Speculative asymmetric plays should be sold as they work out. I have very few "valuation" plays left, where I buy cheap'ish and sell when stock is fairly-or-overvalued. This is intentional. You can call "situation plays" valuation plays... They are usually not just valuation plays though. How well this will work out, I don't know. :) I may completely change my mind at any time. Take care