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Shane,

Thank you for the advice. Glad to receive it. You'll be both happy and reassured to know that I do indeed run to a plan.

My comments about VOR were valid at the moment I wrote them (sometime after 2300 hours Friday night), but Friday's DOW shifted the financial goalposts for Monday. I, like many I'm sure, was disappointed. However, as a trader, I have to deal with whatever cards Mr Market deals me.

VOR climbed to 6.7 cents on Friday and closed at 6.4. Had VOR closed above 6.6 yesterday I was looking to increase my holding (obeying the time-honoured and prudent 'averaging-up' technique). It was not to be. If you take a look at my last entry (the one which prompted your comment) you'll see that the bracketed words are 'Stops in place, always'. Good advice for every trader, and ones which all the great traders, too, seem to obey (read Jack Schwager's book, 'Stock Market Wizards').

I run tight stops, and I run them in association with EXTREMELY close (minute-by-minute in a moving market) monitoring of the numbers of buyers and sellers. Yesterday, the sellers started to rise strongly against the buyers; VOR's SP hit 6 cents ... and I was gone. I didn't want to do that, either, as I love this stock (because of my friend's analysis of the geology), but I had no choice.

My disciplined approach to obeying stop-loss levels has delivered me far greater returns than the 'I-know-its-SP-is-falling-but-the fundamentals-are-solid-and-I'm in-love-with-the-stock-and-it's-going-to-the-moon' approach I've been guilty of taking too many times over the years.

I'm making a living trading full-time; is a 400 per cent increase by trading alone (no other inputs) in total trading capital in the last 18 months good enough, do you suppose?

Don't worry, Shane, I'll be back in. It's still a good stock ... and with its SP now trading at .004 cents below my stop-loss level, I might even be able to buy more than I did last time. The buyer/seller ratio, however, is negative at the moment (remember, I like 2:1 buyer/seller ratios if I can get them), so ... not yet. Watch this space!

(Stops in place, always.)
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