First stock trade of the year
Last year was the first year that I really started paying attention to the stock market. While I’ve had a portfolio for several years, I was unsuccessfully following the old “Buy and Hold” mantra. I decided that 2006 was going to be the year I learned more about how the system actually worked and I would try to finally make some money off my modest investment.
Unfortunately, 2006 became more of the year of straightening out my portfolio and get it into a more informed selection of stocks. In the end, I had a net loss of… $3. Which isn’t bad, considering that going into it I was sitting on some real losers (BUD, NTMD) and needed to make that back in the process of rearranging the furniture. I consider it a pretty cheap real world class in investing.
So, here we are in 2007, and I’m reinstating my goal to actually make some money this year. So, to start off that goal symbolically and practically, I made my first sale – Yamana Gold (AUY). Purchased 8/11/06 @ $10.40, Sold 1/8/07 @ $11.60. That’s a gain of 11.5% in 5 months. Good luck finding a CD with that rate! I sold Yamana after watching it begin a downward slide last week. I did give back quite a bit of the gains I had already made, but the gold market seems to be particularly unstable at the moment, and I’ve been looking to sell a couple of positions to free up some cash for future acquisitions. We’re nearing the point in the economic cycle where Jim Cramer says to sell gold as well. There’s a great chart in Real Money showing this, and I’m told an updated one in his newest book. I like Cramer’s methodology and presentation. He’s one of the reasons I started paying attention to my stock portfolio again. Next time, Jim, just try not to be bullish on Yamana on Wednesday, and bearish on Friday after it gave up a lot. 😉
Anyways… I’m considering sharing the rest of my portfolio so people can follow along at home. I know a couple of you find my financial posts interesting, and I’d really like to get some feedback from other investors out there as well. Drop a comment if you think you’d find this worthwhile!