Some Stock Updates

Things have been pretty exciting in the local stock market, with a bear entrenched firmly in our midst. My personal portfolio has been nothing but red for the past few weeks, so much so that I've become desensitized to seeing the decimation of my profits. I no longer get teary eyed when I look at my portfolio and am just happy to have my capital relatively intact. 

It wasn't the same when the market began to plummet though, with my finger itching to sell and try to salvage whatever I can, but my rational side kicked in and I reminded myself that I was in it for the long haul and that these were merely paper losses (repeat 1,000 times). 

I have the Truly Rich Club to thank for this conditioning because it repeatedly drove home the point that long-term investors should be happy when stock prices fall because that means they can load up on heavily discounted shares. Thanks Bro. Bo!

Speaking of the TRC, I unsubscribed from their monthly newsletters because I was only in it for the Stocks Updates, which I could also get from COL Financial. My stock investing strategy now is to follow COL Financial's recommendations and to sell when a share hits 25% profit and then use the proceeds to buy more stock, without putting in additional capital. In short, good luck to me.

I was right on target with my SMPH and was all set to sell when my profits hit 27%, but then greed started to set in, because if it reached 27%, who's to say that it won't reach 37%? And then 47%? Wouldn't you know it, almost overnight, SMPH prices dropped like crazy until it was in the -15% range in just a few short days. Ouch.

When my SMPH stocks eventually clawed their way back to 12% gains, I sold them all and bought MBT (which also showed a loss at -33%). Doing so doubled my MBT shares and brought up my losses to -13% AND because MBT issued stock dividends of 30% today, I ended up recouping whatever I lost from not selling SMPH when I should have. My MBT shares are now back in the green zone.  Talk about a lucky break.

I wonder if people are still as gung-ho with stock investing as they were when everything was rosy and peachy keen at the start of the year. That ginormous bear must have put off some sad souls from investing in stocks, patting themselves on the back at their wise move in not throwing their hat in the ring, when in fact, this is the perfect time to get into the equity market.

Finally, some takeaways from the last few months: (1) Have a nice stash of cash for the ghost month or for when a bear makes its presence known, and then go on a spending spree; (2) Know my magic number to sell and then don't look back after selling; (3) Slow and steady wins the race.