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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Baton who wrote (7447)	5/23/1999 10:06:00 AM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

To all: . . . . . . . . . . . . .VACATIONS. . . . . . . . . . GENERAL RULE: Positions held over a vacation should be proportionate to you confidence level as a long-term shareholder. If you have no doubts about the performance level over 6 months, then don't worry about your holdings. On the contrary, if you believe a stock could easily go either way, going cash or money market would be the wisest move. EXTENDED VACATIONS: Depending on the time of year of your vacation, if the vacation is extended and falls between November and May, you could consider a mutual fund that is high-tech related, or put some in the QQQ or similar. But if you will be going for a long [more than 2 months] vacation from May to November, you would best be served by staying cash, very generally speaking. TRADING WHILE AWAY: If you are concerned or anxious about a stock, but you want to keep it while on vacation, then there are a number of things you could do. Here is a list of some ideas: 1. Set limit sells at strategic levels [like land mines]. This way if it goes up to where you are sure it will, you sell part. . .if it goes up to where you think it might, you sell part . . .and if it blows up and flies to an unbelievable height, you sell some more. . .if you are playing near-term, that should have been your final position. If you are playing long-term, there should still be some position left. Since most or all your target profits have been taken, these shares are most likely free anyway. If stock continues up, you are fine. If it falls all the way back you are OK, because you bought it lower yet. It is nice upon your arrival home to see all that cash banked on near-term plays. 2. Set stop limits if worried about stock dropping back too far while away. . .if you are worried enough to set a stop loss, you might ber better off just selling altogether. 3. Call your broker to get a closing quote. . . 4. If you find you absolutely must make a trade while away, call your broker or log-on via the Business Services at your hotel. If your hotel does not have a Business Services or you are staying with family that cannot get you online you can look up Kinkos, where you can log on at an hourly rate [and make free local calls while you are there]. Wife jokes that at one time when I was a workaholic CEO, my idea of a fun date was bringing her along to help me work on a project to all hours or as she put it, "Kinkos and an all night coffee shop." 5. Don't start watching CNBC and running to Business Services to keep up with the market while on vacation. YOU WILL LOSE. . . .Reading about YESTERDAY'S market from the Wall Street Journal should suffice. The market and the stocks in your portfolios move too quickly for you to stay up on it, without significantly cutting into enjoyment time of your vacation. . . DON'T DO IT. . .you will be sorry in a number of ways. CHECK YOUR MOTIVES: If, while away on your supposed relaxing vacation, you find yourself going through withdrawls like some kind of money junky. . . then first you need to stop and exam your motives and your obsession, to be sure they are healthy, wise, and are meeting your personal long-term life goals [you do have those don't you?]. You might not just be concerned for "your company" or "your portfolio". . .these might just be excuses for fulfilling "your need" to gamble. ANXIETY OR WITHDRAWLS: If you agree you have a gambling problem, NOW is the time to go cold turkey, since you are away from your old PC and daily habits [unless you vacation at a gambling center]. You can do it. How do you know if you have a problem? If you think you are fine but your loved ones complain EVEN ONCE about you trying to make a trade while away, you might have a condition not at all uncommon amongst heavy traders. A good indicator of this is your daily trading history [all online brokers have them]. Take a look at the last 2 weeks trades. If you are showing more losing trades than winning trades you might need to re-consider "why" you are trading. If you are away and find yourself in need of trading to fulfill some sort of base need way down deep. . .and it affects your family or your personality in the smallest way, then perhaps a call to the local Gambler's Anonymous would not be out of line. Every major city has one. Since you are out of town, there is NO CHANCE of running into any of those local members when you get back to your hometown. If you are already trying to figure what the odds are of running into one of those members. . . RUN to a phone and give them a call. Investing is wise. Trading is a form of gambling. If you are making more than a dozen trades per day, you need to consider the above warnings. If your loved ones regularly complain about your trading, or if you find yourself justifying the taking of needed money to fund your account, this may be a sign and is worth careful consideration. Remember that gambling IS VERY addictive and can be harmful to your quality of life. WHILE ON VACATION REMEMBER THIS ONE THING. . . . . . . HAVE FUN: This is your time AWAY from the daily routines and the market, whether it be your livlihood or your hobby. Enjoy this time away. Do things with your family or friends that you would never consider doing at home. Take this time to draw closer to one another. Enjoy being in one another's presence in a place of beauty. See the beauty that is around you in its many varied forms. Give your mind a break from learning. Give your families a break from your teaching. Go somewhere new and REFRAIN from learning anything about it for a change. If you usually go to museums on your vacation. . .blow it off for an amusement park. . .if you usually go to amusement parks, try a museum for a change [but pick a really good one] or a Wild Animal Park or a zoo. Your kids will think you have turned back into the Santa Claus they remember when they were younger. . .and despite their wonderment, if you stay together and enjoy together, you will all have just as much or MORE fun than ever before. Schedule in a long EARLY morning walk in the most beautiful place around you. . .BEFORE breakfast. Use this opportunity to allow your kids to do at least ONE thing you would not allow them other times. . . that might be a Rated R movie [that you have checked into carefully], or a ride on horseback, or go-carts, or to just stay up as long as they wanted [one night only of course]. . . they will appreciate the freedom you give them and the trust you show. Have a safe, fun, relaxing, happy and blessed vacation, Rande Is