Stockcoach's Corner

If I had to sum up this week for my portfolio in one phrase, it would be "could have been worse". Although I finished down $3,531 (0.6 percent), this was not nearly as bad as the S&P 500 (down 2.7 percent), the NASDAQ (down 2.8 percent), and the Russell 2000 (down 3.4 percent). If this week is any guide to what the rest of the year has in store, then the operative word is "volatility". Even the wild swings in the indices this week don't reveal the whole story: there was even wilder sector rotations. In the space of 5 days, the market went from loving oil and gas, hating it, and loving it again today.

I picked up some shares of RICK today. The company released some positive news before the bell today, and I decided put in an order to buy 2,500 shares at the open. While RICK is a microcap, I don't like the company's fundamentals well enough to warrant keeping it as a long-term investment. Thus, this will be short-term trade only. No matter what, I will sell the shares by the end of next week. In fact, from now on, I am going to be more vigilant in distinguishing between trades and investments. Like many investors, I have a bad habit of mentally reclassifying a trade into an investment when the stock in question goes down instead of up after I have bought it. That's one bad habit I am keen on kicking.