What I did

People on the board often ask me what I did when the market was particularly tumultuous. Well after Monday’s large rise the last two days have certainly been tumultuous, with a huge fall by mid-day on Tuesday morning rising to just a large fall by closing, and the market up quite a bit today so far. So here’s what I did yesterday during the early big crash and on into today:

Pivotal – I added a tiny amount at $27.14, yesterday on the way down, when it was down 6.1% from Monday’s close, and a lot at $25.92, when it was down 10.3%. I figured it was just profit-taking on a scary day after the big run-up following earnings. It finished yesterday at $28.46. I added another tiny bit today at $28.15.

Twilio – I added about the same that I had added to Pivotal, but all at once at $57.35, down 7.0% from Monday. It closed at $59.80.

Wix – I added another tiny bit to my tiny position today at $107.80. It had seemed strong yesterday when the market was weak, and I felt that that was a confirmation of sorts.

SmartSheets – I sold out of my get-to-know-you position this morning, having gotten to know it, almost all at about $28.99. I was especially helped by HiTechGuy’s write-up, and the links he provided. It just didn’t seem anything special and I had surer places for my money (I think). There was also the problem of the rapidly growing losses.

I hope that this is of help.

Saul

PS – Chris posted earlier that his portfolio gain since 1/1/2017 was up 191%.

Although we don’t have all the same stocks, we have amazingly close results, as on Monday I hit up 200% (a tripling of my portfolio), since 1/1/2017, but I fell back yesterday to up 194%.

Stock discussing, analyzing and picking does work, and sure beats the averages. Yes, I know, I know, we’ll “all return to the mean” someday, “statistics prove it!” and “no-one can beat the market” (whole books have been written proving that), but I’ll enjoy it in the meanwhile.

Saul

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It does seem like the NASDAQ is crazy though. Up 50% since 1/1/17. Obviously 200% is crushing it but a 50% rise in an index makes me pause. Battling my own worries is my biggest struggle. The mental part of investing is tough.

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If the NASDAQ index is weighted by market cap, then most of the gain is from several well-known high-fliers, like Apple and Netflix. A lot of the other stocks could have stood still without making much difference.

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