Earnest Projections and Advice, page-119

Sorry, late (& quick) reply - had shifted from 'work' mode into weekend mode researching the Pacquiao Mayweather fight.

I hear ya buddy - what is it they say? "Sell down to your sleeping point". Sounds corny but has some truth to it.

I commend you for making a concrete decision. You're one up on me - not on the holding part (I had no intention of selling today nor did the SP ever reach my stoploss price) but on the overcommitment part.

In fact, I had a quick skim on the XSO or Afterhours DT threads yesterday and some of them were mocking/laughing at Red Emperor, me and some others for disclosing the units we bought AZK and at what price - not that I care (Diff'rent Strokes for Diff'rent Folks) but still a wake-up call for me not to overcommit. In addition, right after the market closed today, I had a little mopey moment when I thought about all the profits I'd let slip in ADO, PSY, AZK had I exited at an optimal level --> compounded, they would've amounted to approx $1.8 mn (all in perfect hindsight of course).

Hey!!! Aren't you glad we didn't exit at $0.60? [joking joking! sorry!]

If you don't mind yet another tip from a hypocrite: I would recommend you keep a trading diary. Jot down the basics of course (price, date, code etc) but more importantly, how and why did the stock come to your attention; what further research did you do; where and how did you determine entry point (and at this stage, also record your position size [R-Multiples], further unit addition if applicable AND your exit strategy). Upon full completion of the trade (ie. sale), jot down the basics such as how many R-multiples you won/profited or lost; whether you followed your trading plan, and if not, why not. Could you have fine-tuned your exit even further? And many many other questions you'll develop along the way.

Now, onto bugging nihilism...

"...I know people who are happy with 100% of their money in specs, I could never do that. I've been up as high as half my money in specs after big wins but I've always cashed out pretty conservatively and switched it to mid-cap growth stocks or dividend yielding large caps."

Maannn...am I glad you wrote that. THAT is exactly what I used to do.

{Addressed to squeef: Truth be told... I haven't backtested at all BUT I am pretty sure I could have had the same results I've been having just by buying into low PSR MidCaps rather than by churning in & out of all these high excitement high volatility companies [checking... checking... yup, just using my SHV as an example, the percentages work out to be pretty similar]}

Damn...something's messed up in my brain chemistry. I've been buying more and more spec stocks...; I've been going all in like The Boy Plunger instead of sizing them properly...; have fallen in love with 'stories' and held on for grim death instead of being clinical; and the biggie of them all, resumed gambling again a year ago, winning (and losing) tens of thousands.

I'm starting to think I've been infected by that risk-taking brain protozoa http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/ (no surprise, my neighbours have cats and their bloody little turds littering the sidewalk). Time for some bloodwork...