That was a masterful interview. Not only did it increase my confidence in Square, but it also gave me an “ah ha!” moment.
The “ah ha!” part had to do with the concept “I have better places for my money,” and generally becoming more comfortable with selling positions where I have lost that confidence and enthusiasm.
After Pivotal’s earnings-related drop, I came to this board to read opinions. Then I listened to the conference call. My impression was not as negative as many of the views expressed here. It was so-so. I decided to give them another quarter and then reassess. My position was small, about 1% before the drop, so if wouldn’t be a significant risk if the stock dropped again.
After listing to Sarah Friar’s interview, I asked myself why in the world should I continue to hold PVTL when I could put that money into SQ? Why hold something that makes me yawn, when I could hold something that makes me cheer?
My Square position is what I would classify as medium-large, about 6% of account value. (My largest positions are in the 8-9% range.) The interview, plus the one on Mad Money that same day, make me want to grow my Square position to the large range. I have identified three small so-so positions (PVTL, PSTG, SWKS) that I want to sell and put the proceeds into Square.
I have a medium-small, so-so conviction, position (about 2%) in BOFI that I’m also considering selling and putting into one or more of my medium-sized, higher-conviction positions (SQ, AYX, OKTA, TTD, NVDA, ZS). The problem here is capital gains. I’ve held it long enough to have a non-trivial amount of (long-term) capital gains. This year, I also sold out of TSLA, which was almost entirely capital gains, so I’m hesitant to add more realized gains and higher taxes. I am committed to selling by the end of January. It’s just whether I sell earlier, taking the tax hit this year.
-Mark