2011 results

2011 was another year of education for me.  As I've indicated in previous posts, I've realized a lot of gain, but I've also maintained higher levels of unrealized losses than in the past, so it's hard to call 2011 and unqualified success.

The graph below represents the positive side of my 2011 results as compared to 2009-2010.

Blue - monthly realized gain

Yellow - 6 month moving average

Red - 12 month moving average

I also learned (or re-learned) the following lessons.

• Take profits when you can.  There are several underwater holdings that were once well in the black.  Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda.
• Be wary of small cap stocks.  These cannot be quickly liquidated in quantity at market price.
• Stick with dividend stocks that pay on a quarterly basis.  TSYS and NOK are exceptions to this rule that have resulted in marginal reductions in my dividend income.

2012 is off to a slow start and I have not made any conscience changes in strategy as I did in 2011.  I find myself with significant holdings in market index ETFs and I'll need to decide if this approach continues to make sense in a (hopefully) rising market.  I also expect to have funds from a relatively large 401k becoming available and I'll need to decide if I want to put these finds into the investment pool and handle them in some other way.   

December 2011 Trading

December capped a very interesting 2011.  Like the rest of 2011, I took profits in December and collected dividends.  I also found myself with considerable unrealized losses for most of my holdings, although I'm well off the lows.

December did hold one surprise that I didn't recognize until the month was over.  This was the first month since I've been trading when I did not make a single purchase.  This, along with sales lowered my percent invested to less than 85% for the first time since July.  This leaves me better prepared to take advantage of buying opportunities that might arise.  But I'd be happy with a bit of a rally that would allow me to become considerably more liquid.

Sales this month:

• Entergy Corp - 7% gain.  After holding some shares for over a year, I finally was able to close out this position with the desired gain. 
• Harte-Hanks, Inc - 7% gain.  I was able to close out about 20% of these holdings before the stock dropped again.  This has reinforced the lesson I had previously learned about small cap stocks.  These are challenging to unload at the desired prices and should be avoided if possible. 

Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. 

The following dividends were collected. 

• Entergy Corporation
• Harte-Hanks, Inc.
• Exelon Corporation
• Life Partners Holding, Inc 
• Harris, Corporation
• iShares S&P 500 Index Fund