iBankCoin

Managing a Position Through Oil’s Collapse

My initial purchase of SLCA was at around $42. I rode it all the way up to new highs, into the $70’s, only to see it collapse into the dirt and rocks, making a mockery of my patience. It was part of a broader asset allocation model and wasn’t overweight, so there wasn’t a sense of urgency with the name, as it fell. However, before long, that small position started to weigh on my performance. As the shares slid to the low $20’s I began to ponder the meaning of life.

I made a decision to begin a campaign to average in on the shares, bringing the cost basis down to reasonable levels.

I bought some at $25, $26, $27, $28 and $29. I bought the stock about 8 times, all recorded in real time in The PPT. I’ve reduced my cost basis down to the mid- $30’s, a reasonable level in the big scheme of things. During this period of accumulation, I’ve exhibited extreme diligence and patience, something to be expected from a man in my position and caliber. If I could do it all again, however, I’d sell this fucker in the $70’s. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Now I could bulk up on the position here and try to make it profitable on a potential push higher. However, given the recent run in oil, I think the prudent move is to wait for lower prices. If this trades up to $40, I will reduce my position. If it trades back down into the mid-20’s, I will add to it.

It’s never easy wading through shit, bearing witness to great trades turning into losers. But had I given up and sold out in the $20’s, when most did, I wouldn’t be in a position to turn this dog into profit, as I am now.

The market was up today because this is a bulled up market. Join the party or get left behind.

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14 comments

  1. J Adabese (your pen pal)
    J Adabese (your pen pal)

    I hope all the smug shorts in oil choked on their lunch today. Assholes.

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  2. speerothekid

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291652/?ref_=nv_sr_1

    I enjoyed it

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    • speerothekid

      also, it’s a trilogy. haven’t seen II & III though. planning that when I can get a few hours…

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  3. matt_bear

    wasn’t the premise of this story the same one in which the FOUR HORSEMEN OF FINANCIAL DEATH born from?

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  4. prometheus

    “I wouldn’t be in a position to turn this dog into profit, as I am now.”

    I thought your basis is around $35?

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  5. J Adabese (your pen pal)
    J Adabese (your pen pal)

    Soros fund nearly doubles Herbalife stake.

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  6. mfalke

    Read through The Money Game (1968) over the weekend and found it striking how easily it could have been written about this market:

    “The Western United States is sitting on a pool of oil five times as big as all the known reserves in the world — shale oil.”

    “Forget it,” Charley said. “The gold-bugs have been around forever. The market still has gas.”

    “Poor Grenville,” said Charley, “has gotten caught with twenty-five million in cash. It’s a disaster. How would you like to have twenty-five million in cash with the Buy Signals you’ve just seen?”

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  7. Dr. Fly

    Three of the four horsemen are profitable from my basis, with feye being the laggard

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  8. flyaway17

    I am long PETS and FNFG in my retirement portfolio, really like the way these stocks are setting up for a move higher. Just throwing my 2 cents into the convo.

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  9. fifty2weekhi

    I did the same exercise on $AMBA in the last 2 trading sessions. Lost some hair along the way!

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  10. vandamme

    This is absurd. You’re omitting opportunity cost.

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    • Dr. Fly

      The opportunity cost is tangible. But, dare I say, it was necessary for me to maintain a basic material weighting, despite its underperformance.

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  11. NON Solo

    Fly, you still holding $YNDX for earnings tomorrow morning?

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