Wednesday, April 29, 2009

In the "couda, wouda, shouda" department...

Most investors who stayed the course with DNDN yesterday, and did NOT put any stop market orders in place turned a profit, averting a total disaster by not having shares sold away to market makers looking to take out nervous retail investors.

But this was a "black swan" scenario that I did brainstorm--but did not carry out in practice, because I stupidly didn't think a bear raid of that magnitude would happen.

I could have purchased more shares cheaply by placing a good till canceled (GTC) limit buy order (usually good for 30 days) at $7.50, $10, $12.00 etc, or wherever I thought it might drop to. I actually brain stormed every scenario, even selling puts (buying at the strike price), but decided against it as I didn't think it would happen.

Another stupid non-decision on my part, because that's exactly what happened.

But to reiterate: always use limit orders, whether to buy, sell, or stop loss...always, especially in volatile markets. When implementing a stop loss order, do not tell your broker what your price is, and always use a stop limit order if you're going to put in a stop loss. A few readers of my blog have already told me this piece of advice has already saved them thousands of dollars.

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