Epic fails

I like the title of those youtube videos.

It also aptly describes some of the biggest blunders in my trading portfolio.

I held BVF (now VRX) for years. Actually had a meaningful portfolio position (well above 10%). Then it did a triple and i sold. Then it went up another 10+ fold from my sell. Its recently fell 70% in the past few months, but even now its triple above where i sold..

Then we have STMP. A similar story i suppose. Held a meaningful position, as mentioned above, let it almost quadruple this time, then sold. Now it is sitting nearly 3 fold higher than my sell price.

I've mentioned to friends that if a portfolio was to be built with say 10% in each of your 10 best ideas and it was to be left alone for years (or a decade) it would likely fair better than me fooling with it.

Well i can't say for certain without a bit, ok lots, of research into my past holdings i will venture a guess that one or two of the above would more than make up for a few of my poorer past picks (ie. AG.un, YLO.t & CGS.t) and help this portfolio beat most out there.

Now i would argue that perhaps these companies above were sold at fair or even above fair market value, but since when does the market ever make stocks fairly valued always? I have had lots of learning lessons while investing, but perhaps failure to hold winners and sell losers has been my biggest. I see EVI.N, VCM.t, & RBA.t have all gone substantially higher since being sold in the past few years. Lesson learned? Only time will tell.