This Week's Trading

Last week I assessed the adjustments that I made at the start of the year and found myself lacking in some areas.  This week had a couple of down days, so I was able to take advantage of these in light of my revised strategy.

Take profits sooner - I made another sale that put me ahead of January 2009 gains.  I'm pleased to say that the last five months have represented higher realized gains than their previous year counterparts.   Last March was a pretty impressive month (4th best ever), so it will be challenging to extend this streak for much longer.

Quit bottom feeding - I did much better on this jumping into two new holdings at a premium price.  One of the two are down at the end of the week, but that doesn't trouble me because I have plenty of funds to double-down if necessary as my strategy dictates. 

I also had buy orders on two other stocks that did not fire.  I was especially disappointed with GIS (General Mills).  I set my buy price at $35.70 and the price briefly bottomed out at $35.70.  Unfortunately my order didn't fire (I guess there were many other buyers at that price).  The stock then jumped up to $37.20 the next day.  It wouldn't have been enough to trigger a sale, but a 3-1/2% one day gain always feels good. 

Reduce or cap investment pool -  No real change here as my sales and purchases from the last week cancelled out each other.  But as long as I generate turnover, I generate realized gain.  So I'm happy with maximum turnover and good liquidity.

Dabble in Index Funds - Not yet, but if we have a string of down days, I'm ready to jump in.  I think I've also found a solution to my natural avoidance of mutual fund companies.  They have played a role in my hesitancy to jump in to index funds.  I've learned that there are ETFs that track indexes too.  I haven't done a lot of research yet, but it appears that there are some out there.  I would prefer to buy into these because you have better transparency.  Also, you're not constrained by holding periods.

The adventure continues!