For one thing I do not buy a down trending stock. Have...

For one thing I do not buy a down trending stock. Have benefitted from stocks that side trades for a while after climbing or sliding significantly the former better than latter. Used to ignore stocks that had climed substantially on the fear that they might pull back heavely but I never ignore them now; they seem to provide better yield over a six month to a year period. I sell non performing stocks even at a loss. Bet less on hope but more on facts. studied ipo's are great ones; if they climb fast I sell them. If they climb gradually on performance I keep them to maturity. And finally do not get into stocks with large debt and incommunicative management. That's pretty much my strategy. Cheers