Still trying to relearn the same lessons

One of the earliest lesson I've learned in investing is when to walk away. Sadly, it's a lesson that I seem to have to keep relearning every few trades. Take HRP for example, I knew I should've sold it when I had a chance, when the dollar averaged result was still a gain, or at least, not that big of a loss. But I decided that I was going to be smarter, and hold out for a little longer. End result, the stupid stock took a $0.20 drop at the end of the day, and now instead of having a break even result, I'm stuck with a loss for the moment and have to sit on the stock.

Another idiotic thing that I did was I bought FSLR by accident when I didn't pay attention to the condition I was setting. I can't believe it. Definitely not a good day for stocks. Well, at least April is over, so far, I can say this isn't a good year for stocks. The old lessons that I keep relearning:

1. Always know when to walk away.
2. Pay attention, because even a small mistake might cost a fortune.

Trading: April 29, 2008

Today I added First Solar to my portfolio for the first time. I'm not sure I have a good feeling about this since earnings are tomorrow. But it's a very small position for the moment, so we'll see what happens. But I have a feeling I should be divesting out of some of my solar stocks now just in case things go downhill. After all, the solar stocks have had an incredible uphill run. So, it wouldn't be surprising if things started going down a bit for now. It's a gamble, but a small one. Let's see where this takes things.

What happened to last week????

Well, like it or not, a week has gone by, and my portfolio isn't better for it. Although I bought into Apple again last week, I would've been better off had I just stuck with it and not moved into Intuitive. It seems like all the major moves have gone bad recently. But I did do some reshuffling, moved back into STP, have to see if the earning reports from First Solar can get me higher up, or if STP is about at its limit. The big concern there is that FSLR reports poor earnings and then it drags everyone else down.

Well, this will be an interesting week again. I have a feeling that I will dump at least one of the stock in the current portfolio. As long as it makes some money. I guess it's better than nothing for the moment.

Monday again....

I hate Mondays, they're both opportunities for the future and reminds me of the mistakes in the past. ISRG rises a bit more, and HRP seems to be dropping again, and Apple is starting to move too. So, in the hopes of not missing any more of the bull run, I added slightly to the Apple position, and may do so again tomorrow depending on how things turn out. The fear is of course two folds, first, Apple will disappoint, and drop largely, the second is that Apple will report and guide optimistically, but the news will already be priced in. Either way, we'll see shortly.

On the HRP front, we'll see where the stock goes in a few days, because ex-dividend day is Wednesday, and depending on how that goes, I'll likely be moving out on the position there.

Friday: April 18, 2008

I have this feeling before, it's as if somehow things are out of whack. I sold half the losing position on ISRG, and bought in some additional position on HRP today. Both turned out to be not the best move. It remains to be seen how things play out. Apple has continued to rise much to my annoyance, as has Visa, and other stocks that I've traded in and out of. I wonder if I'm missing a bull run session.

I hate losing: April 17, 2008

Well, my gambles didn't pay off. I doubled down my bet on ISRG, and while those guys came in with good earnings, their guidance didn't exceed expectations. So, of course after hours, the stock is hammered. Gawd, this is reminding me of the Apple disaster all over again. I wonder how much this stock has to drop tomorrow. Well, think in this case, I'll sit tight. My other prediction on Google was wrong too, the stock shoot up, well, can't win them all. But at least my Sunpower prediction was there, good thing I sold off STP. Depending on how things look tomorrow I might reenter the solar space again.

On the whole, I had better days in the stock market.

Trading: April 16, 2008

The image here pretty much depicted how I felt today. Although it's not at all obvious to me which of the animals should be slaughtered. The market has reacted surprisingly well to earnings so far in spite of the GE miss.

But I feel like I'm gambling a lot. I sold off Suntech today, probably not in a smart way since I sold it below what it was sitting at for most of the day. It was a sensible decision, but not done in a sensible manner. Tomorrow Sunpower reports, if it's good, then I think Sunpower's good news is already priced in anyway thanks to record high oil. If it reports poor earnings I get to go back buy another stock, may be First Solar.

I'm still sitting on a little bit of ISRG that I collected. This could be dicey since the company reports earnings tomorrow. ISRG has so far not ever let me down on earnings season, hopefully this one will be no different. Now, the real disappointment is still Apple, that stock continues to rise. Depending on Google earning report tomorrow, Apple could drop to $130 somewhere so I can buy it. I'm really hesitant to buy before earnings is announced next week, but on the other hand, I can't help but wonder what if Jobs decides that he has a good quarter, announces 3G iPhone and give good guidance all at the same time, it could shoot up up quite a bit. This one is a wait and see, since I can't make up my mind on not touching Apple before earnings come out.