Firestorm Friday Blog - 07/10/09

Friday, July 10, 2009 Leave a Comment

This has been a fairly sideways week for me. I haven't traded much, and have held on to most of my stocks. Some I can't trade...I refuse to take a loss on them. I hate holding for long periods of time, but sometimes the nature of the beast forces you to hold or take the loss. I have found that too many times I have traded too soon, and lost the moola because of my impatience. Remember, you only lose money if you sell. That sounds simple doesn't it? Sure, the worth of a stock may decrease, but once you click the "sell" button, and you are in the negative, then you lose money.


This was a hard concept for me, and there will always be times that taking a loss short term is better than long term. Consider my last year's debacle: FMT. or FMNT. or FMTNQ. It changed hands so many times I can't remember them all. But I played russian roulette and lost. Badly. Should have sold on the first day the stock took a hit. Bought in at .52 and thought it would rebound...as a newbie, all the message board "gurus" said it would be ok...no big deal. I could have sold at .42 and taken a small loss, but continued to hold. Then, I finally sold 2 months later on a peak day of .12 and realized my stupid mistake.

5 Stupid Mistakes I've learned:
  • Message boards feed on new traders...it's like the slickbacked used car salesman. They are looking for the next sucker to pull in.
  • Don't risk everything on one stock. This is just plain stupid. Diversify, even if in half.
  • Patience costs money. 9 out of 10 times you will not find the bottom selling price. Don't panic. Expect to lose some initally, and plan for when you place an order.
  • Set your loss limits AND your gain limits. Getting greedy always has a cost.
  • Never ever place a market order or buy more stock than you can feasibly sell. I could buy 5million shares of AMNE, but if the daily average is 3million, this almost becomes impossible to take advantage of pps increases and spikes.
I don't expect to see a tremendous change today, as it's Friday, and the middle of July. Many of my stocks are not Friday runners, so it may be a good time to average down or pick up some good deals. I do expect some runs on IDOI, WNBD, and SPNG though. All three had news yesterday, so maybe we will have a delayed run. The news for SPNG was too good not to run, and quite frankly am surprised at the current price.

I'm going to be working on some new things for the site, and hopefully the next few months will offer much more than it currently is today. Good luck today, and hope you have a great weekend.

 

3 comments »

  • Anonymous said:  

    Just found your blog, great job...how do you feel about this market?

    I think from the chart we are going down and being short is the best trade right now. I recommended to my readers to be careful of the market back in the end of may and its been down 4 weeks.

    Wrote in the end of May

    July 12, 2009 at 8:56 PM
  • KC said:  

    Thanks for your response. I feel like the summer doldrumms are here, and they are here every year. I'm not worried, and not in panic mood. Shorting is always good during the summer, and for the next 8 weeks, that is a safety net for sure.

    Love your site, and keep up the good work. Maybe we can do some collaborating, as I'm not readily following commodities or gold.

    Best regards.

    July 12, 2009 at 10:15 PM
  • Anonymous said:  

    Definitely KC...I was also doing a lot of penny stocks as well. It is a great way to make money if you are extremely disciplined technically. You have to know how to take profits. Commodities will be good but the next few weeks look ugly right now.

    Your track record looks awesome!!! Keep in touch.

    July 13, 2009 at 12:05 AM

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