Derf, >> find a way to spot these breakout stocks a week earlier <<
That would help for trading, but my strategy has evolved into mainly buy / hold. Trading can be fun, but I figure that buy / hold should produce the best results by simply riding the stock market's historical long term uptrend, and using a broad index like the S+P 500 to eliminate the vagaries of picking stocks and sectors.
But I figure that also having a group of individual stocks makes sense. It's not only a fun and interesting hobby, but having a group of individual stocks also makes it too cumbersome to sell, so that forces you to 'stay the course' with at least something. Meanwhile, since the S+P 500 ETF component can be sold off quickly, this reduces the angst of feeling trapped in a deteriorating market.
Anyway, Buffett says the #1 challenge we have as investors is controlling our temperament / emotions, so the idea is to minimize the angst aspects down to a manageable level. Anyway, still a 'work in progress', but it seems to be producing much better results than my earlier forays into active trading. So, boring but better results, and the individual stock side is still fun to follow even though the positions are relatively small. Everyone is different, but for nervous nellies like me, I figure the key is getting the right balance.
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