Don’t panic. Don’t sell your stock because it’s going down. Sell it only if you feel its prospects have seriously worsened. Or it’s hit your inviolate stop-loss level – say 10%, 12%, or 15%.
Today I see that my biggest “loser” is Square (SQ). But it’s also among my biggest gainers and also one of my bigger positions. So I have to learn to temper my emotions when I see red on my Fidelity Active Trader Pro screen.
Think company fundamentals and don’t get crazied out by words like “The Dow is in Correction Territory” or “The Trump Bump Turns into The Trump Dump.”
The media’s business — mine too — is pumping out words. Sometimes — often times — it’s better to stay silent, go for a walk, or, better, play tennis.
Skip the words. Stop reading.
Here’s Nasdaq over the past five days. Looks gruesome.
But here’s Nasdaq over the past year. Looks better. It bounced back from the early February lows. It will bounce back from these lows. So far, they’re not as low as February’s.
I’m confident of an upcoming bounce. Hence I’m not doing anything,
Except I will admit to selling my few shares in Tesla. I’m a big Elon fan and a long-term Tesla fan. I’ll buy my shares back when they get cheaper.
This “timing game” is totally insane. I know. Tesla has been getting awful press lately (except in Australia, where it’s doing really well.) We’ll see.
Some reader opinions:
Alan, a reader wrote:
Harry,
Chuck, a reader, wrote:
The Trump chaos is going to get much worse. His embracing Putin and attacking Mueller indicates he’s in serious trouble. A “trade” war may be the lesser of our worries regarding his actions.
BOLTON will convince Trump to wage war on somebody — take your pick North Korea, Iran. It could even be Qatar where we have over 11 thousand troops!
Thursday, (that was yesterday) two things happened:
+ China retaliated against Trump’s new tariffs by announcing plans for tariffs against $3 billion in U.S. goods.
China’s Commerce Ministry released a list of U.S. imports, from fruit to pork and recycled aluminum and steel pipes that would be subject to higher tariffs. (No details announced yet.)
American consumers will pay more for products made from steel and aluminum. Chinese consumers will pay more for American food they love.
The liberal press is freaked out by Trump hiring super-hawk John Bolton, one of the few people who will say publicly — even today– that the Iraq War was a good idea!
Bolton basically thinks war is The Answer. I don’t. I don’t think Trump does either. But Trump likes throwing down strong opening chips — “Look what I could do.” — and then backing off, as he did with the steel and aluminum tariffs. Which now exclude all the countries that love us, including Australia.
The Economist has a piece today on Bolton and what it means. It’s worth reading. Click here.
Good evidence of human stupidity
Harry Newton, who’s looking forward to his kids arriving this weekend. I bought one of these for Peter, 2, who loves dunking:
I bought it online from Walmart, then went to their local store and picked it up. I was seriously impressed with what I saw of Walmart during my brief visit. They’ve embraced technology big-time. They even offered to carry the hoop to my car. (Do I look that feeble?) You can buy one for your basketball-crazed kid here.
I am NOT a fan of yours, Harry Newton. I feel like I wasted my time reading your blog today.
“likes throwing down strong opening chips — “Look what I could do.” — and then backing off, as he did with the steel and aluminum tariffs.”
Harry, valid observation.. but those of us who care about our families, the future, the nation and the planet are not comforted.
Those things are not be risked as if they are part of a rug trade or a poker game.
Here’s the weird thing about Walmart online. I bought something at a Walmart locally that didn’t work. Before i returned it I checked online to look at the details. I found the object that I’d bought for about $30 in the store. It was listed online for under $15. After I’d returned the object and got my $30, I decided to tell the store Manager about the error on their website. “I get that a lot”, she told me. “But it’s not an error”. Apparently Walmart sells things cheaper online,EVEN IF YOU PICK IT UP IN THE STORE!. This seems to be a part of their online response to Amazon. Does it make any sense? Not according to me and the Walmart Store Manager.