Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
Changes in the Rearview Mirror
For years now, I’ve done something which is a bit unusual, but I find oddly helpful, which is to track the positions I have closed out. In other words, when I close a position, I move it to a different part of my portfolio spreadsheet, updating its “entry” price with its “exit” price so that I can see what would have happened to that position if I had simply hung on to it.
By its nature, this is a constant source of either relief (“Phew, glad I got out!“) or regret (“Idiot! Coward! You should have hung on!“) I constantly have my eye on the rearview mirror.
$1.5 Million Goners
Anyone who trades equity markets on a regular basis knows all too well the feeling of regret. There’s really no such thing as a contented trader, because if the market is going against us, we wish we weren’t in position, and if the market is going for us, we wish we were more aggressively-sized.
Years ago, I even set up a page called Woulda Shoulda Coulda which lets anyone punch in a symbol, date, and purchase amount just to see what the value of any given security would be in the present day. Try it, and I guarantee you’ll want to tear your hair out.
I was reminded of the topic of regret when I stumbled upon this prominent post over in /wsb:
The Final Countdown For Tesla
The Burning Light
Let’s talk about Lumen (LUMN) which has had an insane week.
In recent days, it went up about 900%. I never really followed the stock until I noticed on Tuesday that it was the top gainer in the entire market, just about doubling in price. I stupidly assumed earnings had just come out (when I could have easily just glanced at our earnings page to learn it was, in fact, not going to report until after the close).
Here’s the 5-minute bar chart:
