With the sale of Sysco today, a new high has been established for monthly recognized revenue. And there is still a strong possibility that 2 of the 3 stocks that I'm currently holding will also hit their buy mark before the end of the month. So the new standard might be quite lofty indeed. It's worth noting that this was largely attained through more patient selling for higher margins as I have not held as much during July as in June, yet revenue was greater. So in fact I've had less risk but greater return. Wait a minute, I didn't think that was possible!?
Unfortunately, I'm less than 20% invested at the moment, so it's time to begin the process of patiently waiting for the next buy opportunity. I'll have to fight the urge to jump in prematurely. Past experience has shown me that it's worth the wait for both buying and selling.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
A Nice Run Up....
The last week have seen a nice run-up of the market. I've been able to dispose of several holdings at a nice yield including a couple of 10% gains. I'm also approaching my sell point for several other stocks. I even found a brief buying opportunity that I was able to capitalize on. So I've made my target profit for the month and then some. At this writing, my monthly yield is the best to date.
The analysts have been reporting very rosy outlooks recently including some reports of new market highs. As discussed in the past, I prefer volatility over a quick run-up, so I'm hoping that this doesn't happen too quickly....if it happens at all!
I'm down to 40% invested, so I'm hoping to take profits on a few more stocks, then look forward to a correction next week so I can buy back in. The ride continues to be fun!
The analysts have been reporting very rosy outlooks recently including some reports of new market highs. As discussed in the past, I prefer volatility over a quick run-up, so I'm hoping that this doesn't happen too quickly....if it happens at all!
I'm down to 40% invested, so I'm hoping to take profits on a few more stocks, then look forward to a correction next week so I can buy back in. The ride continues to be fun!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
A Very Mixed Day
Wow, today was a very good day for the market. All the broad indices were up about 3% and my portfolio was up a similar amount while I was still about 65% invested. I even sold one holding to realize a tidy 9%.
But I also felt my first real pain. Corus Entertainment had a bad earnings report and I saw a stock that I bought for $13 fall from $12 to $10.25 in minutes! Although they had a bad report, there was no dividend cut or any other news that had long term ramifications, so I didn't even consider bailing out. I briefly considered doubling up at the bottom, but I just wasn't comfortable throwing more money in either. Too bad, because Corus was up to $12 again by the end of the day. I'm still holding a loss, but it's not insurmountable, so I'm holding on and collecting monthly dividends in the short term.
This was also a really good lesson in diversification. When the price was plummeting, I realized that even if the Corus price went to zero, my overall trading portfolio would still be ahead for the last two months. This would not have been the case if I doubled up and the price went to zero.
But I also felt my first real pain. Corus Entertainment had a bad earnings report and I saw a stock that I bought for $13 fall from $12 to $10.25 in minutes! Although they had a bad report, there was no dividend cut or any other news that had long term ramifications, so I didn't even consider bailing out. I briefly considered doubling up at the bottom, but I just wasn't comfortable throwing more money in either. Too bad, because Corus was up to $12 again by the end of the day. I'm still holding a loss, but it's not insurmountable, so I'm holding on and collecting monthly dividends in the short term.
This was also a really good lesson in diversification. When the price was plummeting, I realized that even if the Corus price went to zero, my overall trading portfolio would still be ahead for the last two months. This would not have been the case if I doubled up and the price went to zero.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Ouch!
This week has been brutal so far! The market has been down about 2% for each of the last two days. I've continued to buy in at my price points, but the continued drop has left me with more unrealized loss than I've carried to date. Overall, I'm down about 2% on the shares that I'm holding and almost 4% on a couple of stocks. But this is more than offset by the realized gain that I have for the past two months.
The good news is that I've hit many buy price points in the last two days and I've been able to load-up a bit. But I haven't exhasted all my funds and I'm still only about 60% invested. But this will surely change if the market continues the current spiral.
Conventional day-trading wisdom might call for some stop-loss trades to bail out of my current positions, but I remain resolute that I've purchased good companies at fair prices and I plan to hold on. I remain confident that this will prove to be a good time to buy in whether I'm able to sell out my positions in a few weeks or if I'm required to hold these positions for months or years (noting that I will collect dividends during this period).
The only trading change that I'm considering is avoiding or minimizing any speculative trades. Under any circumstances, this is a minor piece of my portfolio, but I'm leaning even more toward conservatism at the moment....but we'll see what happens when I hit my price point on one of my speculative stocks!
"Earning's Season" looms. We'll see how it goes and if I stay in the red or get back in the black.
The good news is that I've hit many buy price points in the last two days and I've been able to load-up a bit. But I haven't exhasted all my funds and I'm still only about 60% invested. But this will surely change if the market continues the current spiral.
Conventional day-trading wisdom might call for some stop-loss trades to bail out of my current positions, but I remain resolute that I've purchased good companies at fair prices and I plan to hold on. I remain confident that this will prove to be a good time to buy in whether I'm able to sell out my positions in a few weeks or if I'm required to hold these positions for months or years (noting that I will collect dividends during this period).
The only trading change that I'm considering is avoiding or minimizing any speculative trades. Under any circumstances, this is a minor piece of my portfolio, but I'm leaning even more toward conservatism at the moment....but we'll see what happens when I hit my price point on one of my speculative stocks!
"Earning's Season" looms. We'll see how it goes and if I stay in the red or get back in the black.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
June 2009 Trading
June was a great month with almost twice as much realized gain as May with earnings matching my gross salary. Given the tax sheltered approach, I feel I'm way ahead of my net earnings as a working stiff. Although the holdings are nearly depleted, I have high hopes for a similar performance in July.
I sold the following stocks in June. In all cases, return was greater than 5%:
I sold the following stocks in June. In all cases, return was greater than 5%:
- Kimberly Clark
- CMS Energy
- Chubb Corp
- Abbott Labs
- Clorox
- Pfizer - Second batch of Pfizer bought and sold in June after a similar cycle in May.
- Merck
- Telecommunications Systems - Also a second batch for TSYS. This falls into my non-standard strategy.
- ADP
- Emerson Electric Co
- Corus Entertainment (Class B)
- Hillenbrand Inc.
No dividends were collected in June.
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