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.
A few moments ago, with the market shrugging off the China sell-off news in the States, my Ventana Medical Systems (VMSI) hit a sale point on an appreciation target. I sold 26 shares of VMSI at a price of $51.64. This represented 1/7th of my position of 188 shares which were purchased on 4/16/04 with a cost basis of $23.47. Thus, my shares had hit an appreciation of $28.17 or 120% from purchase. I have sold shares of Ventana three times previously--at a level of 30, 60, and 90% appreciation targets--and had been waiting for the 120% appreciation level to trigger a partial sale--I am now selling 1/7th of my remaining position--and did so!
Since I am at my 'new' maximum of 20 positions (which I adjusted downward from 25 in light of my hefty margin level of about 50%), I shall be 'sitting on my hands' with the proceeds of this sale, applying it to my margin balance, and waiting until I once again dip below 20 positions before using a sale at a gain ("good news") to give me that "permission slip" to add a new position to my portfolio.
When shall I sell Ventana next? On the upside, my next four sale points shall be at 60% intervals--that is, at 180, 240, 300 and 360% appreciation levels--if they are reached. At those levels, I shall be selling 1/7th of my remaining shares. A 180% gain would mean the stock price would have to reach 2.80 x $23.47 = $65.72 before selling once again some additional shares. Since I now have 162 shares, 1/7th of that total would mean a sale of 23 shares at that higher level.
On the downside, I certainly reserve the right to sell all of my remaining shares on any fundamentally bad news announcement. On a price basis, should the shares decline to 50% of the highest targeted appreciation level, that is since I just sold at the 120% appreciation level, if shares should dip back to 60% appreciation levels or 1.60 x $23.47 = $37.55, then likewise, I shall be selling all remaining shares of that position.
Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting! If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com. If you get a chance, be sure and visit my Stock Picks Podcast Website where I discuss many of the same stocks I write about on the blog.
Bob