Francis Meyrick

The Clueless Investor

5/8/2010

Part 2: Mistakes made

I had no clue what to buy, how to buy, when to buy.
So… I had a shot at it. Bought BP, Chevron, and a lot of drilling companies.

BP (BP)
Chevron (CVX)

Transocean (RIG)
Diamond Offshore (DO)
Pride International (PDE)
Rowan Companies Inc (RDC)

Superior International (SPN)

Then, not knowing better, I sat back and looked at it for a while.
Well, Mistakes Number 1 and 2 and 3 were already made, right there and then.
It was going to cost me money. Plenty of money.

Mistake Number 1)
What you might call very poor diversification. Way too much in one sector, oil and oil related.

Mistake Number 2)
No trailing stops. What on earth is a trailing stop? Yeah, I was to ask that question as well, but a few years too late to avoid some serious damage.

Mistake Number 3)
Was it a good time to buy that stock?
Duh…. I dunno…
Was the stock on the upswing, downswing, near historical highs, near historicals lows, what was the PEG factor, what were the fundamentals, growth, fund ownership, rate of accumulation, sector forecasts….??
Duh…. the WHAT???…. I dunno….

I had (and have) a lot to learn. I was going to get my little fingers burned. To the tune of thousands of dollars. But that was in the future.
For now, I thought I was a champion. I was an IN-VES-TOR. (Take a bow) Taking responsibility for my own fate.
Facing up, squarely, to the task ahead.
(roll the drums…)

Poor, dumb little lamb. I didn’t even know… that I didn’t know…

Jack Sh##t…!!

Francis Meyrick