Hello Friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice!  As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

There is no doubt that Sysco (SYY) is one of my long-time favorite companies in terms of the kind of what I would refer to as an infrastructure service industry---a company that behind the scenes provides food services and supplies to restaurants, hospitals and institutions throughout the United States and Canada.  Thus, it was with great disappointment that yesterday I noticed that with the terrible bear market ravaging the best of stocks, Sysco (SYY) had not been spared the onslaught and when it hit and passed my (8)% loss limit, I sold my position. 

On December 10, 2008, I purchased 154 shares of Sysco (SYY) for my trading account at a price of $22.668.  Yesterday I sold these same 154 shares when the stock had declined to $20.8216.  This represented a loss of $(1.85) or (8.15)% since purchase.

I am as clueless as the next investor as to how far the stock market is likely to fall, whether it is a good time to be buying or selling my holdings, and whether it actually would be wiser to be buying shares of Sysco (SYY) at these levels rather than executing a sale at this price level.

But this I do know--my own market investment strategy makes good sense to me.  I believe it is necessary to limit losses to some acceptable amount, and that market forces dictate most of the price action of stocks rather than the individual stocks determining their own price course. 

My investment strategy involves moving between a minimum of five holdings and a maximum of twenty, responding to market sales on losses by reducing my market exposure, and responding to stock appreciation by selling portions of those holdings at targeted levels.  I also believe it is wise to use the actions of my own holdings to help me respond in some rational fashion to the irrational forces swirling around me.

Thus, with five holdings and with the sale of my Sysco stock now down to four holdings, I am 'required' to add a new position to my portfolio.  But instead of replacing this holding with a position of equal size, I shall be adding a holding of smaller size thereby once again shifting towards cash even as I replace a new stock for an old holding.  Currently, after selling a holding when at the minimum, I purchase a new position at 1/2 of the average size of the remaining four.

Today I found a stock that appeared attractive and once again moved up that minimum of five holdings while at the same time continuing to shift to cash in this difficult market.   I shall be saving that entry for another blog.

Yours in investing,

Bob