Bleak week

I haven't posted for several days. As you know I went back into the market thinking my fear had been keeping me out for too long. What opportunities I had missed!

Did I pick my moment! Withing days I was deeply regretting my move and I am still nursing my wounds. But this time I have held my nerve a bit better.

First things first. I bought more shares based on a selection system which has a good record - shares that have shot up in price on high volume. I bought: VRS EVRY DRL CBAK

The first pull back came two days later. I lost the money made on my first day out - no big deal. Then another bad day and I lost a bundle.Another bad day and another big loss. By now my nerves were giving out and I ditched the worst performers.

I do run risky share picking systems and I win or lose in big numbers very quickly. In the present case I'm talking of losses of 10-12% in a couple of days.

A market recovery brought me back small beer and I lightened my load a bit further. Then the big crash as the Espirito Santo Bank in Portugal threw a wobbly into the market and there was a huge fall.

Panic stations? I looked at the chart and could see that support had  been broken, but only just. As the day moved on the markets regained their calm and the recovered to well within the support line. I held my nerve.

The next day my portfolio staged a strong recovery on a weak market move. The other thing was that only two of the stocks I ditched continued to fall. By selling the rest I sacrificed a big chunk of recovery money. I've always hated stop losses and this is why. There is almost always a bottom in that market somewhere, and it's always darkest before the dawn. As long as the market has strength and you pick your shares using good selection criteria it's best to hang in.

It wasn't all bad

There were two bright spots in all of this. My UK shares held up well with GVC returning to an uptrend. This was despite the fact that the FTSE lost almost 4%.

 And my gold shares have proved to be a smart move. They have made 6.7% since the 20th June. They behaved strangely during the pull back but ended very strongly up.

Bottom Line

The support line has held. The US economy is still strengthening and although the QE will come to an end the US government is still pumping huge amounts of cash into the banking system so for now the rise looks set to continue.