I know that's obvious and simple advice but I saw it in a comment this morning somewhere and it really jumped out at me. Waiting around for a recovery while it goes sideways or down comes at the expense of gains you're missing out on had you accepted you were wrong and moved onto your next winner.
I don't know why but this somehow opened my eyes to what I already knew. So this morning I dumped my MSFT and bought some DRAM and SMH to hold while I do some DD and make some decisions. I made up almost half my losses in a single good day. It wasn't a huge bag I was holding but enough and for long enough that I could feel the drag it was causing.
Even if I have to buy back into MSFT at a few bucks higher down the road it still wouldn't be worth holding onto it for the next few months or longer while MSFT gets it's shit together.
That's all. I hope this helps someone else say goodbye to a loser and make some new gains. Please don't rub my face in it if MSFT moons tomorrow.
You don't have to make up losses from the stock that caused them
byu/shayfish_140 instocks
Posted by shayfish_140
8 Comments
This is great advice. There is a big opportunity cost of holding onto stocks that aren’t performing well in hopes of regaining what you lost. It’s almost always better to find a more productive place to put those funds to work.
No shit
Don’t get married to a losing stock
I’ve been trying to explain this to friends for years. They are so far down on a stock but convince themselves as long as they don’t sell they haven’t lost anything.
Easier said than done. Im 5 years late to this
I’m glad I didn’t dump HUT a few years ago, when it was less than 1/10th the current price.
Capital gains taxes create some friction that keeps me from selling. I also believe in owning the business and not the stock. When a business has good long term fundamentals hoping to trade for a gain isn’t the best practice. (Yes, I’m holding MSFT. )
Almost every bad stock I’ve held has rebounded. IME, your advice is wrong. To me, it seems like you are a short seller who wants to people to sell. It sounds like you are trying to get people to sell MSFT.