wow

ASVI closed at 32.94 yesterday. Today it opened at 31 and dipped all the way down to 26.51 this morning before recovering to 32.18.

I never did put a 7-8% stop loss order in for it, so it didn't sell. At 8% I would have sold at 31.38 (or worse, probably, as fast as it rocketed down), so it seems like I lucked out. I think for now I'll not do stop orders, even at drastic points, like 10% or %15, both of which would have been triggered today.

I might regret this decision, but we'll see. So far I've gotten out of a lot of positions on intra-day dips. GFIG is now back at $60. I got out of it on a stop order at 51.58 when it had a huge dip one day. Same thing with PARL: it dipped the day I bought (and sold) it, not that it's any higher than what I bought it at. MRVL dipped and is still down below what I sold at.

Hrm, so maybe my record is not that bad. It just irks me that GFIG is so high and I had it. If I would have gone by close price, I'd still be in it. And PARL, but MRVL closed low, so I'd still be out of it, which is a good thing, the way it's been down.

So, that's the new strategy. Base my selling only off of close prices.

ASVI

Tues 2/21 I bought ASVI at 34.11. I was also considering CTRN again. I logged in, they were both on the rise. CTRN went up $4 that day. ASVI peaked when I bought it, and is currently at $32.91.

IBD says that we are in a confirmed rally, since the Dow broke out, but I'm not so sure.

Also, CTRN is about to make a new high, so it might be considered again.

sure, now the market's up

After I get out of every position, the market turns. Dow's at a 5 year high.

Jeff suggested checking out SCHK. I'm not sure it hasn't passed the buy point, but it looks like a good stock.

no more stop orders?

So I know IBD discourages stop orders, and now I think I see why. It seems like every day a stock will drop and rebound a good bit as a natural part of the cycle. This increases the likelihood of getting shaken out.

I think from now on I'll base my sell decisions on close prices. Although, that could bite me if a stock drops like a rock, so I might still put in an emergency (like 10-12%) stop order.

Got shook out of PARL

Well, 7% was enough to sell. I'm left holding only MRVL.

IBD says that this is 5 distribution days for the NASDAQ, so the lesson learned is that I probably shouldn't have bought at this time, anyway. Now their recommendation is to wait for better buying signs before acquiring new positions, which is what I think I'll do.

PARL stop-limit order

Okay, I decided that with the market as funky as it is this week, I
can't risk holding PARL if it decides to dip. I put in a stop-limit
order for 7%/8%.

Now I'm sure to be shaken out, but that's okay, it may be time to chill
for a while, anyway.

current holdings

MRVL
PARL

But for how much longer? We just bought PARL on 2/8/05 at $35.25. After the weak day it had today, we're not much above the buy point (32.78/7% or 32.43/8%).