I opened an account (savings) at Schwab just so I could open a brokerage account and use their research tools. LOL. they are top notch, but I still have my accounts at Sharebuilder.

Sharebuilder also does the normal dividend reinvesting option (on by default). and its 1 price per trade, regardless of # of shares. You get a discount on trades due to being a Costco member, and the "automatic investment" option is the $2 one, which i think is normally $4 from them, but discounted due to Costco membership.

I just hope everyone made a little money this year!

I'm stoked, I employed your philosophy about 14 months ago. The money I used to "let the bank rent for nothing" is now up 11.5% over that time. It's starting to snow ball into some real money. :relax: :D

There ya go!!

So I have an update and a question. CASY is the stock I am referring to for anyone that wants to look it up. Almost 2 years ago I bought a small amount of a stock $1500 worth, at the time it had a dividend of 1.3%. I was super happy with the stock for all the reasons listed earlier in this thread. Now this stock has had the growth I was looking for but the dividend is going down. The share has grown $20 apiece and the dividend is now down to .97%. Is this a normal rate? I know as one goes up the other will go down.

I guess what Im asking is, is this is normal or should I continue to hold on to it? Or is it time to sell and buy something with a higher dividend. I feel the company is not even close to done growing and I have been continuing to buy more, just in much smaller chucks to keep everything balanced within my account. Im happy in every way with this company. I just wondering if there was a smarter way to be using my money.

Miles --- you've got TWO fundamental mistakes in this line of thinking... and I'm not calling you out or flaming you on it. In fact... it's good because others can learn from this post.




#1 -- The dividend did not go down. IN FACT the dividend has gone up! It was paying .18 a quarter - it's now paying .20 per quarter.

What you're doing is a failure to understand the way dividends are looked at for a comp. The dividend is paid in DOLLARS -- and figured as a PERCENTAGE. The dollar amount stated has to get calculated into a percentage AT CURRENT SHARE PRICE. So as the share price goes UP -- the PERCENTAGE that the dividend represents appears to go down. It works the other way in a falling stock market - as the price of the shares drop - the percentage of the share price the dividend represents goes up.

You - having paid a lower price per share - are getting a higher percentage of dividend rate on your money invested. So you always need to do your own calculations on what YOU PAID - and what you're currently receiving. I don't know what you paid so can't calc that for you.

The MATH for doing that is:


The ANNUAL DIVIDEND amount (4 times the quarterly amount) in this case the annual amount is .80 (4 x .20) DIVIDED by the share price. And move the decimal two places.


So let's use this actual stock and price.


.80 dividend by 82.63 = .009681

Move the decimal point -- and you have .97 %


#2 -- You've fundamentally made another mistake in your thinking by not looking at the TOTAL RETURN. Remember that if we're going to "accept" a low dividend percentage - then we need the offsetting GROWTH in the share price so that our TOTAL RETURN is appropriate. TOTAL RETURN is the ultimate goal here - and should alway be the main consideration for ANY investment regardless of whether or not it's stocks - bonds - or real estate etc.

CASY has a TR of almost 10% for one year -- 62% for 3 years - and 184% for the last 5 years.

While this year isn't particularly stellar - overall this stock is a grower and if you're happy with them - I'd continue to hold or add to the name. Their earnings are growing (as reported) and that's a very good thing.

Thank you Greg for getting me straightened out. You are 100% correct about me being confused about how the dividend payout works. What you said makes perfect sense and I feel much better about it now. I was just doing my 6 month review of my holdings. Im well in the green on this one, but had a thought that maybe it was time to review this particular holding and look for something better.

EXCELLENT!

congrats Todd and Miles! Glad to hear you guys are having success with this.

I personally have huge holdings in "oil and oil related" companies... anyone that has these types of holdings is getting killed right now. This morning has them down hard once again. I call this action the "death of a 1000 cuts". Every day they go down. Here's the reason for writing this morning - because it's the end of the year - and people should be assessing where they are and where to put new money etc.

"Never try to catch a falling knife" is a very good statement that has been around far longer than we have been.


Many times I "average down" in an investment that I think has long term potential to either provide me with current income (making the cuts acceptable) or that I think is being oversold for a temporary issue. I've made great money on the snap backs - I've also had my ass handed to me - so in a nutshell - these are risky ways to play.

Now - back to the "never try to catch a falling knife". I always have cash waiting to be invested. Unlike most - I don't have to put money to work all the time. I'm lucky and can hold pretty healthy positions in cash and not have it affect my future or current income. So I'm ALWAYS on the prowl to get this wasted money off the sidelines and into something. BUT -- ALWAYS THE BIG BUTT IN THE ROOM -- I've learned to be patient! When something is falling -- you don't want to just rush in and be a buyer.... In the market we need to learn that. Be patient and watch and wait - it's better to wait for a bottom to be put in the stock - have a stabilizing period - and then maybe even wait for it to start to go back up. While you might not get the absolute lowest price of the decade -- you'll also not suffer the unknown "death of a 1000 cuts" which is really more important to your mental health than your pocketbook (if you're a long term investor). One or two names going down hard can affect your return for the year. Oil has definitely hurt my percentages this year.... where last year they were leading the charge higher.

Now --- if you are trying to adjust your portfolio -- and or you have new money to go into the market -- it's also paid off for me to buy the sectors or names that are DOWN over the ones that are up big. It's more painful and is far harder mentally to do -- but if it's the right sector/names they often do have nice outsized gains when (and if) they come back to more normal levels. They also pay nicer PERCENTAGE of dividends while you're waiting for that to happen. Remember as the share price falls - the percentage of yield rises... which is what generally builds a floor for the share price.

Think about this like rental real estate... as the price of the house falls - if it can collect the same amount of rent - that rent is a better ROI (return on investment) as a percentage. If it keeps going down (the price) eventually you might have to lower the rent --- but that's the part we don't know and have to "okay" with. What we do know is that it won't stay this way forever and we will be made whole again down the road.

Good post, Greg. It's going to be interesting for the next few months or year I think.

Anyone in here still playing with BITCOIN?? I see today it's down to $364 USD.... that's a long hard downward slope from people talking about it being $1000 plus per coin.

My point here.... Most of you had already forgotten the name of the thing... and had I not brought it up here - you would have. OUT OF THE NEWS -- The Talking Heads on CNBC quit mentioning it... the clerk at the store quit talking about it. DONE. GONE. Bubble popped.

Not the kind of "investment" where I want to put my money. Lucky for me - I've lived long enough to have seen many of these kinds of "investments" come and go. My job is to have you guys (and gals) all watch this and learn from it. Better to learn from the sidelines rather than the far harder lesson of losing your money.

Oh sure - there's money to be made "while it lasts" - on the way up - and the mania that ensues.... just like people made money flipping houses. The problem is they lose it all because people don't get out at the top. Most likely they finally got IN at the top...

This brings up a good reminder. When you log into your brokerage accounts, your not going to see your "Total Return", and this could play tricks on your mind! hahaha.

I ended up writing my own tracking spreadsheet using Google Docs. Where I document each purchase I make for each stock (price/qty/total amount), and also note each dividend payment. It then calculates my total shares, my Avg Cost on those shares. Then it automatically grabs the current share price. I then have a "Summary" tab/sheet (I have a "sheet or Tab" for each stock), where it monitors the daily basics such as todays price +/- %, todays Dividend %, MY dividend % based on my original purchase, plus the TOTAL RETURN.

Just as an example, when I log into my brokerage account and take a quick peek at my page, it shows I'm DOWN 0.22% on my AT&T. :disgusted: Bummer right? Well, not really. My Total Return for it is actually 28%. There's a HUGE difference there. :G-Dub:

Once again Greg, thanks for taking time out of your day to keep us all on the Up and Up and moving forward with this stuff. It's made a huge difference in my retirement accounts since starting this within the last 2 years. :G-Dub: :thumbsup:

You're more than welcome Albert! I'm so happy this is working out well for you.

Correct data - and correct thinking are CRITICAL Albert. Good for you for doing the work on the spread sheet.

The thing with stocks - versus other types of assets such as housing etc... is that we tend to look at them all the time. It's like a moth to a flame... we like to see our investments all going green all the time. Of course - it doesn't work like that. But really understanding where you're at is key.

I've said it here many times -- if you're UP 30% over a two year period -- and suddenly the market "tanks" and goes down hard (10%)... you must put that in perspective. You can't open your account and go HOLY CRAP! I'm down 10K! When in fact --- you might be up 40 over all.

I would like to ask some theoretical questions. Lets say a year or even 2 years from now a stock has has no growth and the dividend payout has not increased at has been a low value. My money could be put to better used in a best of breed. Now assuming the company is not doing anything wonky behind closed doors, what would be a reasonable time frame for a person to wait on a stock to start doing something again?

I can use my CASY stock as an example. I bought in 2 years ago and it has had great growth and I'm well in the green on it. So if for some reason it was to just go stagnant and nothing would change for a year, how long should I wait if there is no news coming in from their side on what is going on.

That's not what is going on with this but I was just using it as an example. I could see myself saying well I've made X and if I wait a bit longer I might make more. That would be the emotional side taking over with investing. What clues should a person look for to know its time to move to greener pastures?

Good / fair question. Selling is probably the hardest part to figure out - particularly when the name is a winner. That in itself brings up LOTS of quandaries. Why would you want to sell when it's done exactly what you wanted it to do? Has there been a FUNDAMENTAL change in the business which now changes the reason you invested in it originally? Are sales flattening or headed down? Are margins shrinking? Has another player come in to the market and taken market share? Has the position grown to be too much of your overall portfolio?

Now - here's a harder unknown question I always ask myself. If I sell - I now have cash to invest. What makes me think I can do "better" or even as well as what I'm in and just sold? Usually I don't trim or sell unless the name is a loser -- or I have my eyes on something that I need/want in the portfolio. Or the position has done so well that I just need to trim a little off the top.

Your question is actually unanswerable with a "pat" do this style answer. The reason for this is because you can't just take a particular name and what's it's doing in a vacuum. What has it been doing relative to the market? Is the whole market flat or down... or is the whole market UP and the name you're looking at down or flat. Thus not keeping pace with the overall market.

The other thing is to pull it up on Google Finance -- and then scroll down to where the page shows other names which Google adds as "comparable" businesses. Where is it compared to those?

By the way -- I never worry about stocks that have done what I thought (hoped) they'd do. The ones I worry about are the ones that don't. That's when I start looking at why -- and why did I choose the wrong one. Right now - we have a FUNDAMENTAL change in Oil... all my oil related stuff is getting killed. I KNOW why that is - there is nothing I can do about that. I then have to make a judgement as to whether or not I think this change is permanent or temporary in nature. I then check the dividend yield on my cost basis and decide if that's enough to keep me holding the investment... how much pain am I willing to accept and what's the future (crystal ball) say.

In other words -- there's a hell of a bunch of factors to think about before hitting the sell button. And I guarantee the day you sell - the stock will take off upward again. Just like the day you buy it will go down. It's the nature of the market to test you.

The "oil complex" is just killing the market here... and of course -- a DOWN market can have a MARVELOUS affect on your investments down the road. You'll have to be long term thinkers in a down market. Harder to do than many people think it is. To put money to work when you're almost certain you're going to feel pain... ain't easy.. but here's my point.

AS PRICES FALL --- the DIVIDEND PERCENTAGE rises.... and some very very great companies are starting to peak my interest. STARTING doesn't mean I put every dollar I have to work tomorrow.... Starting means I'm researching - building my plan - and preparing to put that plan to work with buying.

When you have big companies like Conoco Phillips (CON) paying almost 5%... Exxon (XON) is at 3.11%.... Chevron (CVX) is paying over 4%.. British Petroleum (BP) is over 6%

These are just some EXAMPLES to use to show as prices drop - dividends rise. The question is how SECURE is the dividend etc. NEVER buy a company just because of the dividend percentage -- that's known as a "value trap" where all you're focused on is the percentage. That CAN BE a mistake. Make certain your buys are always something you want to own come hell or high water. Don't get lazy and just see one metric.

Class dismissed! LOL

You just had to jinx us all didn't you!

Yeah -- I shoulda kept my big yap shut! Actually I've done real well... but this oil dropping like a rock is either a blessing or a curse. We just don't know yet.


This is why we always have to keep our eye on the FUTURE - not this week or next month. We have to say - where do I need to be 15 years from now.... for many - even way longer!


Interesting statistic I heard today --- there were FOUR stocks that accounted for the DOW being down over 80 points. I've written about this earlier... that there is a weighted average... and some days it appears to be a blood bath - and you open your account and didn't do all that bad. Right now I own too much of the oil complex and it's not helping me one bit. LOL

You have to be confident in your selections are solid companies with good management/financials to stay in and buy more at a discount...I own Conoco and Exxon for a very long time, buying more as the dip continues...look to the companies that are dependant on oil/gas to operate for the pop in those stocks, airlines, UPS/Fedex will improve with lower fuel costs...open your eyes and you will see lots of opportunity to get into good companies when volatility comes around...

Mr Market's response today should be interesting... I'm looking to buy this dip as well but the oil stocks drawbacks are typically a bit longer lived so there shouldn't be any hurry to start tip toeing in.

I have a feeling the retail stocks are going to do well this quarter. We've been busy shipping a lot of Christmas presents here and the mood from the customers this year so far seems pretty joyful.

I have really tried to avoid the discussions regarding an individual and an individuals stock picks or pans.... that's a bottomless unrewarding pit. The reason I say that is because the very nature of any "market" is that one person wants to own something and the other wants to sell - and they both may have very valid reasons that SUIT THEMSELVES AT THAT TIME. Each of us has different views of the world - have different levels of wealth - disposable income - savings needs etc. So that's a long disclaimer.

Having said all of that ---- I think you should be feeling pretty rosy TODAY having NOT sold your CASY.

Just to make this into an example... I had stated in an earlier post that the day you sell - the market will go bonkers (I didn't use those words) and it will go up. Today - for CASY is a prime example of that.

Now then -- this line of thinking, while hypothetical at best -- can get you into trouble when you really want to sell something but are afraid to pull the trigger because you're absolutely sure it will go up 15 minutes after you sell. GET OVER IT. Go back to the charts - refresh your brain looking at the SQUIGGLY line. It goes up and down like a yoyo. You'll never get it right - you can only do the best you can do at the time.

Use the squiggly line to either confirm or deny your thoughts. While it might be squiggly - is it on the general glide path UP ----- or has the line turned decidedly south and it's squiggling down. I'm talking about using the line as a general reference here. A longer term (albeit historically) view if you will.

Now -- I tend to also look at how much that line tends to "oscillate". I use that to show myself visually that perhaps this particular name (whatever that name is I'm looking at) is "volatile" if the squiggles are large... or it's a pretty steady eddy and the line has small oscillations in price. If I see this - then maybe it correlates with what's freaking me out at the time --- i.e, the stock is volatile as seen in the graph and the price fluctuation is pretty "normal" for this particular name.

Go to whatever platform you (when I say YOU -- I mean anyone reading this) and pull up a chart --- YEAR TO DATE -- and plug in GoPro (GPRO) and then add to the chart (using comparison function) Altria (MO). Keep this at Year to Date so you have a visual of the stock price movement.

I have always warned about KNOWING YOURSELF in investment. Look at the movement in GoPro vs Altria. Sure GoPro has really moved up huge since it's debut -- that's not what I'm talking about here --- What I'm talking about is COULD YOU STAND THE GIANT NASTY PRICE SWINGS.

It's easy to see that had you bought GPRO early -- you'd be way up -- but that's hindsight. Would you have been able to put your hard earned money in and then have it down 4 or 5 dollars two days later??

Okay --- I'd use this chart to help me understand that a name like GPRO is VOLATILE... and that maybe these big price swings are "normal" for a stock like that..... but looking at MO -- I see super steady -- and then if there was a big whoop-te-do downward in the chart THAT would make me nervous and I'd have to go research to see what happened because thats not normal for this name.


The short answer or reason for this post is that --- make certain you do a little "work" before you buy and before you sell. Make certain that you truly understand the particular stock you're looking at. The trend - the trend vs the market in general - the "action" of the name (big swings or steady). The reason for that is for your MENTAL STATUS because your mental status is about 90% of the battle. Panic and sell or buy too quickly without doing the right amount of work will kill your long term performance.

Here's a VERY GOOD article.... It's well worthwhile reading.



http://seekingalpha.com/article/2747...-capital?ifp=0

Well it now been a little over a year since I started reading this thread and about 9 months since I rolled over my 401K and started a IRA and opened a roth. I had about $25,000 to put in and my account currently sits about $27,000. I was quite a bit higher a few months ago but about 20% of my holdings are in two big oil stocks that have taken me down a lot. I'm not worried about either one bit since I have a 20-25 yr time line.

I just want to say how happy I am they this thread is hear and the information Greg and others have shared. Its going to change mine and my families future.

I do have one quick question. This week I opened a new taxable account since I can add to the IRA and the Roth is maxed for the year. Tax wise is there any rule about re-buying a stock you are taking a loss deduction on?

Lets say for example I own and love XYZ stock at the end of next year. It' down but I believe in it and I still want to own it. Can I sell it to take the loss but jump right back in it?

Joe.... You are why I pour my heart and soul into this thread. It's my Democratic way of being a Republican... in other words - I like to give back. I'm so happy you're having some success!


Now -- I have at least 2.5ish million in "oil and oil related" stocks. They're not helping my annual performance one bit. I'm getting ready to buy more. I think there is more downside so I'm waiting until I'm pretty certain they've hit bottom - maybe another quarter. But the dividend payouts are JUCIY and getting better by the day!!

OKAY -- On to the larger picture/question!


The rule is called "a wash sale". Yes you can sell anytime you want to - remembering to take the loss in the tax year you're in - and take a loss. There are tax rules about the size of the loss etc --- and you NEED TO DISCUSS this briefly with your tax guy so you have a very clear understanding what that all looks like. Like most things - it's never as simple as you "hear".

Okay -- the "WASH SALE" rule says you must wait 60 days or more before you buy the same stock you just took a loss on if you want to be able to write off the loss.

There is NO RULE that says you can't sell Chevron (CVX) at a loss on Friday and buy Exxon (XON) on Monday. They're not the same company.




SO HERE'S A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE - Make damn sure you understand what a capital loss can be written off against!!! It does NOT reduce ORDINARY INCOME dollar for dollar... and lots of people think that's the way this works! It does NOT! Capital gains are offset with capital losses... and there's a way that is done according to tax law.



Capital losses from the sale of stock are claimed on Schedule D, which is attached to your Form 1040 tax return. Capital losses offset capital gains of the same type, then capital gains of the other type, and then other income. So, if your stock loss is a short-term loss, it first offsets your short-term gains for the year. Any remaining short-term loss would then be used to offset long-term gains. Finally, if your loss from the sale of stock was greater than the total of your combined long- and short-term capital gains, up to $3,000 in capital loss can be used as a deduction against other income. - See more at: http://wiki.fool.com/How_Much_to_Wri....IXvneuzk.dpuf

I sat here thinking about this --- and for a new investor there's a lot of things they've heard about "investing" that are just so wrong.

I get into lots of conversations with various people - and I love to hear a guy bragging about the big "write off" he's going to take on something. I smile knowingly. I know this guy doesn't know squat about investing or taxes and that he's bragging about something that most likely didn't or isn't going to happen anyway. He THINKS this is the way all the rich guys talk so by mentioning it - he too must be one of them. He's also the same dipsh!t that in the next sentence is going to tell me he pays his VISA off every month.

TAX LOSSES are used to OFFSET (cancel or reduce) GAINS. Those losses and gains have to be what's called REALIZED. You can't have a gain in your account on paper that you haven't actually realized (sold the shares and taken that gain!) and try to sell some losers and "account" for that gain. You have to have sold the gaining shares - and then figure out what you've gained - and then sell some loser shares for the offset.

You CAN NOT - just sell some shares, for let's say 100K loss -- and then try to completely offset your entire years income from working (Ordinary income). It doesn't work that way!!

The tax man doesn't live in a cave somewhere... they write all manor of rules to keep people in line! LOL.

At the end - or coming up to the end - of the year... you'll hear about TAX LOSS SELLING. Yeah -- this is done all the time and is normal... but that selling is only done to reduce (tax wise) the amount of GAINS taken in the same year. It's simply a way to reduce your tax bite on those gains. So in other words you would have had to have realized gains - and then realized losses... This is NOT a way to make a ton of money and write it all off like the big shot bragger dumbass is trying to tell you he's going to do.

Greg,
I love this thread. I am in awe of your level of knowledge about this very complicated subject. And is willing to share it here... a car site. More than cool.
The line above gave me pause. Are you suggesting it isn't wise to pay off your credit cards monthly? Or are you saying you'd bet he really has CC debt because his previous statements demonstrate his BS level, so you wouldn't believe anything he says?
Just curious...

THIS! LOL

Greg thanx. I'm still learning all this and your way of putting it really makes me understand it (well most of it).
I'm still having a hard time "settling in" with managing my portfolio with transforing my 5 mutuals, while running a successful company and three kids in college. I'm currently "dumbing" down my positions as i can't "do" a spread sheet. My wifey is brilliant at this (spreadsheet management), but she won't spend the time to "manage" it, which will hurt both of us later on if I dont manage it. Right know we're prospering (the biz is worth a fair amount of coin, same with the equity we have in the house, but thats for much much later, which will come sooner than we think).
So for me, reading this when people post new questions or have different perspectives than I do, much education occurs, :thumbsup:

In the mean time, The pension i did last year for my company and its employees, has a tax accountant, a third party pension administrator, and will soon be going to a management company to help with managing the growth of the account. I looked into where Schwab's advisors have put the pension monies (mutual fund, and man, the diversification just in the financial sector its like 300+/- banks.
So while I have to do this because of the laws regarding fiduciary responsibility, I advise all my employees to start a Roth IRA, and to read the basic fundamentals of this 102 class....

So, everybody remember a couple of things:

"Its not what you make, its what you keep that matters"
"Its not "timing the market, its time in the market"

If any body doesn't believe that last one, look at the chart before, during, after the great depression, the market came back stronger than before, it just took 15 years...

Greg, did the time frame change? I know the last time I checked it was 31 days to repurchase and be ok, but that was a long time ago.

:thankyou: for investing your time into this thread, I have been reading this post for some time now (long time listener, first time caller, LOL), anyway .... I am beginning to understand most of the terminology because of my classes I'm taking for my MBA. I do have some money in a Roth and a 401K, but now I can read INTO the report and determine what is best for me.

I do appreciate the comments from other folks too ... keep beating the dead horse, I'm listening:thankyou:

Michael

Any one have any experience with capital one sharebuilder?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I originally typed 30+ days -- then decided I'd better double check my facts and found the 60 day info so posted it. I was ALWAYS under the ASSumption it was 31 (30 plus a day).

Awesome Michael!!!


Been over to Pinkee's and checked out my '40?? Okay.... LOL -- me either.

No I haven't been over to Pinkee's .... homework is keeping me pretty busy, I take the day after my assignments due to work on the Camaro and then its back at it.

Michael

I've been using them for quite a few years now.

Holey Crap... Nice run up today...

I've been busy shipping Christmas packages all week and haven't paid attention, what'd I miss?

FOMC meeting - no rate hike announced

Also, oil prices are actually up today.

I don't even know what to post in this thread as far as NEWBS -- i.e., 102 investing -- which to me - is entirely different than say - what "I" do.

You've all now witnessed the roller coaster ride the market can take you on. This is why I've preached to all --- buy great companies -- that pay dividends -- and then sit back and relax.

This last couple of weeks wiped half a million of gains (paper) from the account that I use here for examples. Did I sell or panic or freak out? NO. Why? Because I've seen it all before. WHAT DID I DO?? I began to look at where the damage was done -- and began to think about what I'd do differently or how I'd REBALANCE going forward should the opportunity present itself.

In other words --- I didn't act --- but I did put on my thinking cap.

There's an old old saying about "BUY THE DIPS -- SELL THE RALLY'S". I warn against this "trader" mentality. You should be thinking longer term - calm - steady - invest when you are ready. Not firing from the hip. If you're a seasoned pro -- then that kind of thinking "can" work. We're not seasoned pro's. We're investors in this thread -- just working our way to retirement - looking for ways to get us there over time.

Now - in full disclosure - I thought about where I'd lighten up and I waited for this mornings rally (I had no idea the market would fall so quickly - nor did I think we'd have a two day rally that snapped a lot of stuff back so quickly!) - and pulled the trigger on some trades. I have really large positions. When you're holding 10 or 20 or 30,000 shares per name -- you can lighten up by 5 or 10,000 shares while still maintaining a healthy investment. It's year end -- I see some losers that could be trimmed if we got a rally where I could hide (cover) those losses with trimming some gainers. That's what I did. I also had some stuff in very small positions that weren't paying much dividend that I looked at and thought --- okay --- going forward is it really worth it to me to have less than a 2% dividend, and in such small amounts (500 or 1000 shares). When I could just take that gain - and reinvest it going forward in something that will pay me north of 5%. I answered that question with the sell button.

Now I have way too much cash -- so I'll discuss with my banker dudes some of their ideas (an email was already sent)... and I'll see what's what going forward.

Now -- I pay attention to this stuff big time! You could say that I make my living paying attention to the market, because I do. I'm already retired -- and the gains and dividends I get from the market are what puts fuel in my race cars. So what "I" do is different than what YOU should be doing if you're a long way from retirement or your money is inside a retirement account. There - you just keep putting money in - come hell or high water - you plug that money in!! The LAST THING you want to do is to quit putting money to work because this week the oil complex tanks... THAT IS HOW NOT TO REACH YOUR GOAL!!

Greg, I have to tell you...during these last two large drops and subsequent rallys the DOW has taken...I've just sat back and watched smiling the whole time. Watching the charts from this different angle that I now see things from has been so much easier to stomach. These quality companies this thread has helped us pick just don't take the violent rides the rest of the market does. They also seem to be the first ones to recover as well.

I briefly thought about dribbling some more in during this last drop, but I was busy MAKING MONEY at the shipping store and by the time I got a break, the dip was over. No biggie, I'll get them next time.

Merry Christmas everyone!!