richfool wrote:Agreed that is one of my weaknesses, - tinkering. I take an interest in stock markets and enjoy following them, and all too often get drawn into making adjustments. I do keep telling myself that I have assembled the portfolio that I want and therefore should leave it there, which is where I am now. My excuse then becomes, just the accumulated dividends to reinvest. I think my New Year's resolution is, not more than one trade a month.
As long as the 'tinkering' is round the edges, I don't see anything materially wrong with it. I try to buy and hold because I tend to agonise about when to sell and then made things worse for myself by continuing to monitor the price of ex-holdings (naturally fixating on the ones that have gone on to do much better, rather than the ones where the share price has subsequently collapsed). I'm trying to inject more discipline into my process by setting a stop-loss and a fixed sell price on anything I'm not wedded to for the long-term. If the latter is reached, I will generally take profit. If the former is triggered, I minimise my losses. Otherwise, I'll typically hold unless something materially changes my view of the outlook for the stock. I find this helps manage my 'animal spirits': if 'present me' is tempted to deviate from what 'past me' said I (we?) would do, there has to be a compelling reason to do so.
- OllyDrod