Sold SMTC Corporation (SMTX)
I dumped my holdings of SMTC Corporation (SMTX)
today at $2.07. I bought it back in February at $1.35, and added to my holdings
in April at $0.89. Frankly, I no longer remember why I bought the stock in the
first place. I always do a certain amount of research, but I don't usually take
notes, except on this blog. So I'm not sure what it was about this little
electronics manufacturing service that appealed to me back in February. So it's
pretty easy for me to let it go for about double what I paid. It's already at
$2.35 today, though, so I obviously could have gotten a better
price.
I also sold 25% of my Acme (ACU)
holdings back in June, at $20.52. This is a scissors and stapler company, and
it had been doing so well I felt like it was getting to be a larger part of my
portfolio than I wanted. Also, how much growth can you get in scissors? It had
grown about as much as seemed reasonable, and I was torn between dumping the
stock and holding for even more appreciation, so I compromised by selling some.
It's around $16 now, so I guess I could have sold it all. I hope it drops a
little more, so I can buy it back even
cheaper.
I also added to my QLT
Phototherapeutics (QLTI) holdings at $8.65, tracking their plummeting stock
price. They make mostly eye-care drugs, and it seems like the market may be
overreacting to a new competitor. I'm not too worried about them. If they drop
more, I'll probably buy yet
again.
Let's see. Back in May I also
bought International Assets Holding Corporation (IAAC) at $6.51. They do
currency trading, and I had this theory that when China decoupled from the
dollar, they'd get a big boon. They're at around $7, so I guess my theory
hasn't been great, but I have no complaints. I'll keep holding them at least
another quarter to see if anything interesting
happens.
Most of my stocks are down,
but somehow my total portfolio value is holding relatively steady. I'm not sure
how, exactly. I guess the stocks I've sold were profitable. Also, you might
remember I shorted Blockbuster Video back in April at $10.01, and it's at $6.91
now. So that 30% drop has helped me. Normally I consider covering shorts once
they drop about 25% (nothing can drop forever), but I feel like Blockbuster
still has considerable poor financial performance in its future. Still, with
shorts, the upside is limited, while the downside isn't, so I'll probably cover
it the next time they get some bad news. (Mind you, I like the company, and I
use them frequently -- but they don't make much money off of
me.)
I'm subscribed to the Motley Fools
Hidden Gems newsletter, from which I've learned about many of my stocks. Buying
two stocks per month, without selling any, has proven to be just too many,
though. How much money do they think I'm investing? I only add about $4000 per
year, which makes about $330 per month, or $165 per recommended trade.
Commissions ($10.99 at Ameritrade) would murder me with trades that small.
Another problem is that the stocks they recommend have a strong tendency to
spike by 5% (they're small companies) the minute the recommendation hits the
net, which makes it difficult to match the Fools' performance. I much preferred
their old Fool Portfolio method, where they announced their buy the week before
they actually closed it, so you'd have as much chance as they did with your
purchases.
I sold my Flamel (FLML)
stock about a week before the Fools recommended buying more of it. Go
figure.
Filed Mon - August 22, 2005, 10:51 AM in
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