Saturday, March 30, 2013

Seller's Remorse

My strategy of selling into the  mid 2012 - 2013 rally has been profitable, but has led to a bit of seller's remorse. Of the 20 stocks that I have sold, only 6 are at or below the price at which I sold.   The remaining 14 are higher than the selling price, although 2-3 of the higher stocks were briefly lower than the selling price.

In addition, my spouse's strategy of keeping the College 529 Plan investments when I decided to go to cash in mid 2011 has paid off.  Her account is now 15% higher despite being 10% lower than my account after the 2011 selloff.

At this point, I still believe the rally is unsustainable in the long term.  So I will accept the downside of additional seller's remorse and continue to use the rally to take profits.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.


This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

3 comments:

Brent said...

You need to do what I do -- sell and don't look at the stock's price again until it comes up as a potential trade. You'll sleep a lot better.

Super Saver said...

Good point. For reference, I am looking for the opportunity to make the trade again, which is why I'm tracking the price :-) I'm not a big fan of using alerts since I may miss them.

pfstock said...

I will typically place a stop loss order to sell stocks. Like a trailing stop, I will move up the stop price when the stock rises. Stops work best in stable and rising markets. However, they don't work well if there is a lot of volatility.