Hahhhh... Where to begin? 2004 was a good year, not great, but good. I made five trades and a few that I am still holding since I begin keeping this blog. Lets review the damage.
Libbey - bought on 10/1/04 at $18.99 sold at $19.37 current price is $21.52. I did not like holding this stock because its volume was about 50K shares a day. There was a lot of slippage buying and selling this one. Got out with a small profit.
Colgate - bought on 10/20/2004 at $45.35 sold at $46.58 current price is $50.12. I guess I should have held on a little longer. Why didn't I? I expected this stock to move up a little faster. Instead the stock languished and ended up in a trading range. It still is in a range. I was able to get the dividend though. A plus.
Maytag - bought on 10/25/2004 at $16.84 sold at $17.37 current price is $21.00. I was not looking for a big move on this stock. I don't know why I set an expectation on this stock. I have to remind myself to let the stock market decide when I buy and sell. I should have listened to the market closer. I was also concerned about their debt rating, which was lowered.
Aflac - bought on 11/8/2004 at $37.20 sold at $37.01 current price is $40.11. Shoot! Well, you win some you lose some. I made the mistake of selling during the trading day. I try not to do this. I am not a day trader. I try to let the day play out and see what the institutions do in the afternoon. Sure enough, after I sold the stock trended up again. I protected my capital though.
OSI pharmaceuticals - bought on 12/14/2004 at $49.00 sold at $47.53 current price is $73.15! Double ouch! What can I say? This stock was a gamble and I lost. The stock could have gone down $20.00 too. I can't dwell on this one. Look forward not behind.
I still ended up ahead.
A few lessons:
1) Don't traffic in low volume stocks
2) Don't be in a hurry to sell for profits
3) Be patient
1 comment:
2004 - Not a very frothy market, to say the least.....
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