Been busy

I sense I have missed some oppourtunities by not strictly adhering to a scanning routine and by not adhering to some criteria for buying into leading issues. Many of the ETFs I have recently owned have bounced back nicely, I expect they will continue to do well. There has just been a lot going on around here and I am distracted. Easier to miss opportunities than to miss money!

It is also difficult to solely be a systematic trader. A systematic trader has discipline to trade using fairly firm rules for entry and exit, I did okay with it. A discretionary trader makes judgements on what to trade. I expect I will end up blending these two in some fashion. What I fear is constantly changing what I do. Going with whims and emotions is a poor way to go about this.

I have an internal debate going on with regards to stocks vs ETFs. I have had my arse handed to me time after time with stocks in this market but they can offer the best chance of good exponential growth. They also suffer big drops when I buy them (perhaps at the wrong time?). ETFs cut back on this some but suffer just as much as the overall markets.

So I am dipping my toes back into stocks, trying to be a little smarter about buying them. Most of what I have owned has come back above my buy prices: GMCR NFLX AAPL CNO BIDU. I've have been a weak holder. Smarter buying for me is now not chasing price up, if my IBD emotional training has me wanting to buy, maybe now I just put it on my watch list and buy when "they" sell in a panic. If I'd have kept BIDU from when I had it I'd have a 20% gain right now. One of things I will do is concentrate on the stocks that have the best potential for monster runs.