Friday, July 20, 2007

How Not to Invest in Stocks: Learn From My Stupidity


So, on Wednesday, I sold my first ever stock, Novartis. In the process, I made at least one key mistake.

The stock had tanked after its Tuesday earnings call announced that for the next year it would be having slower than expected growth. This had been somewhat expected by analysts, but regardless, the stock still dropped almost 3% on the news.

On Wednesday, the stock dropped a further 2% based on several analysts dropping its rating. Importantly, the analysts did not have any information the market didn't have on Tuesday. Their downgrade was based on the Tuesday earnings call, which the market had already reacted to.

On Wednesday, after the stock had dropped more than 5%, I sold my stock. On Thursday, the stock rebounded 1.8%, mostly because some analysts held steady on their rating while others realized that that the Wednesday analysts didn't know anything the Tuesday market hadn't already known.

The end result is: I sold at the low. I still feel like it might be 8 months before the stock starts appreciating at a decent level. I should have either sold on Tuesday after the earnings report, or I should have held onto the stock until it came back from its Wednesday's loss.

2 comments:

settlement cash structured for flow said...

the stock dropped a further 2% based on several analysts dropping its rating. Importantly, the analysts did not have any information the market didn't have on Tuesday. Their downgrade was based on the Tuesday earnings call, which the market had already reacted to.

QUALITY STOCKS UNDER FIVE DOLLARS said...

Stock investing can be very worthwhile if done right.