tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post4372886924686450409..comments2008-06-27T09:12:47.124-04:00TraderMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241756200482130281noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post-63274238914573403252008-06-27T09:12:00.000-04:002008-06-27T09:12:00.000-04:00hrs,<BR/><BR/>#1 I am wrong often so don't take what I say as gospel<BR/><BR/>#2 On Marketocracy.com you can only do limit buy or sell orders, not trailing stops<BR/><BR/>#3 I am not a huge fan of trailing stops myself - they are big invitations for market makers to swoop down and take me out of my shares and then resume the stock in the same direction<BR/><BR/>#4 I do believe from the feedback readers read too much into every move in terms of specificity to each position. i.e. if I sell down something I am suddenly a bear on that 1 thing. I take a holistic approach to a 60 position portfolio. In this position I have a huge gain - can I squeeze more blood out of the turnip? Probably. But I'll let someone else take that risk/reward. I was buying in the $90s/$100s and I've been letting go in the $120s-$140s. I'll always take the middle of the move - I'll let someone else try to nail the bottom and the top. I am just not that excellent of a trader to hit every bottom and top. Last, again I am holistic - I am looking at where the easier money could be made and/or how I want to move the portfolio for the next 2-8 weeks. Right now financials have had a horrific 6 weeks, so the easy trade has been made - I've been gradually pulling away as things have been getting worse. Risk/reward turns against you. Just yesterday someone asked why did I not buy Gafisa versus buying some other names like Mastercard and Research in Motion. I bought the latter 2 - why? Do I like them more? Not really. I have very little of those other 2 positions awaiting a pullback - while I have a meaningful stake already in Gafisa. So I believe readers take things a bit literal and suddenly think I am calling a bottom in Mastercard or Research in Motion or its a great time to buy. Not really - I had a 0.1% to 0.3% stake in those names and want to begin rebuilding positions. So I began yesterday. While I already have a sizeable position in others in similar chart formations or that I like as much fundamentally.<BR/><BR/>So I am looking at a very big picture strategy. While I think readers might focus on each position as if I am implying something specific to that position. Perhaps SKF tags another 30% gain from here. I don't know. I got "my win" in this trade and its time for someone else to take the risk/reward. I am looking for the next play now that people are trashing or ignoring like they were SKF 6-8 weeks ago. Then I'll sell that in a month or two and I'll probably sell too early, but I still "got the middle of the trade".<BR/><BR/>Some would say this is poor trading and I don't maximize my wins. I understand that. It works for me; I urge everyone to find a system that works for them. My system would probably fail for most people - but it's done ok for me.TraderMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241756200482130281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post-774535352143563422008-06-27T05:25:00.000-04:002008-06-27T05:25:00.000-04:00Mark - maybe I don't understand the limitations of moving money into/out of ETFs for a 7-figure portfollio, but why a hard sell rather than a trailing stop? And do you have some technical indicator that leaads you to this sell decision, or is the decision the result of your prior experiences? thanks for any answer.hrs0944http://www.blogger.com/profile/09986838112144909482noreply@blogger.com