Stoplight's Account Talk

[Stoplight]

Welcome back, Stoplight. Trying to recover from "Buy N Hold" and "the 2008 beating" is why I joined up here. The way the market was going Sep - Feb, I had acctually entertained hopes of getting back to my Nov 2007 high by the end of this year. After Libya and Japan I know better now. Let's see if we can go anywhere from here.

Anyways, from a newcomer to an oldtimer: Welcome Back!!

Cactus,

Thanks for the note ! It really struck a chord with me...I, too, was encouraged by the rise back into positive territory that was happening to my balance since 2007...then the world events, and market ups and downs, finally broke me, and just made me scream and say "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE !!!" I'm too old to wait for all this stuff to play out in my favor...

It didn't help that one of my "play" stocks, CEG, is Constellation Energy Group, an operator of a nuke in MD...I believe in nukes, but the Japan situation, and the media, is going to kill any potential growth in that market (IMHO)...at least they are still paying a dividend ! Thus, the nod to Birch and the benefit of dividends...

As a newcomer, try to avoid what I think happened to me..."analysis paralysis" ! There is so much good information here, but with such wildly different opinions/positions from people smarter than me (and they all seem to make money, at one time or another !), I just couldn't process it all, nor did I want to !!! Couple that with the restrictions on transactions per month...thus the "buy and hold". I suspect I am like 99% of the TSP participants...I don't have the desire or interest to process this stuff on a day-to-day basis. Some here would say "Well, then, you get what you deserve, if you lose money. You're lazy !" That's true I'm a spoiled Baby Boomer, but I understand all the warnings about "market risk", so I accept the fact that I've "lost" money, and I humbly accept that I just want my TSP balance to make money rather than lose money I suspect I'm not alone...at least I'm smart enough to DCA enough in to get my match/free money...hard to believe there are folks out there who don't even do THAT :nuts:

My current thinking is to watch the Sentiment Survey...heck, that's theoretically a combination of ALL the great minds on this Board, right ???

Anyway...thanks again for stopping by my thread, and posting your "welcome back" ! Best of luck to you !!!

Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

Good to hear from you Stoplight, stick around!

Thanks, NNUT...good to see you're still around to maintain the decorum on the Board

Stoplight...

 

[Cactus]

Cactus,
As a newcomer, try to avoid what I think happened to me..."analysis paralysis" ! There is so much good information here, but with such wildly different opinions/positions from people smarter than me (and they all seem to make money, at one time or another !), I just couldn't process it all, nor did I want to !!! Couple that with the restrictions on transactions per month...thus the "buy and hold". I suspect I am like 99% of the TSP participants...I don't have the desire or interest to process this stuff on a day-to-day basis. Some here would say "Well, then, you get what you deserve, if you lose money. You're lazy !" That's true I'm a spoiled Baby Boomer, but I understand all the warnings about "market risk", so I accept the fact that I've "lost" money, and I humbly accept that I just want my TSP balance to make money rather than lose money I suspect I'm not alone...at least I'm smart enough to DCA enough in to get my match/free money...hard to believe there are folks out there who don't even do THAT :nuts:

My current thinking is to watch the Sentiment Survey...heck, that's theoretically a combination of ALL the great minds on this Board, right ???

Thanks for the advice, Stoplight. I'll have to see if I can put it to good use. One question about the Sentiment Survey, though. I see a lot of snide remarks about folks riding the S Train on this forum. Any idea what all the complaints are about? Is it simply the idea that we are all cows that haven't earned our position and need to do the analysis ourselfs?

I'm not a finance person and never had any interest in this stuff. I just feel forced into it by being part of that group who's retirement investment has been flat over the last 10 years (my prime earning years). I'm just looking for something that works and SS looks pretty good to me. I can handle weekly changes. In fact, if I hadn't bailed last Thursday by analysing overhead resistance I'd still be sitting pretty on the S Train.

 

[JamesE]

One question about the Sentiment Survey, though. I see a lot of snide remarks about folks riding the S Train on this forum. Any idea what all the complaints are about?

Are you kidding? Who cares... That is a very valuable tool! We will see how this year pans out, but after Tom tweaked it some time back, it has been working like magic. Do yourself a favor and check past returns, and then compare to people with their own "system" and the Premiums.

Can you top 35% returns by yourself? Yeah, well nobody else did last year either...

That's my .02

 

[Stoplight]

Geez ! I've been around, mostly posting in my "Retirement" thread, and other people's threads, but I've kinda ignored my OWN little corner of cyberspace ! Anyway....

The majority of both the Wife's and my retirement account money is now in our USAA Self-Directed IRA's. We're putting part in "buy and hold" stocks and funds, and "trading" with another part. FWIW, my remaining TSP balance is in "S" ; got screwed when my monthly withdrawal amount was processed last night

I have my rollover in a lot of cash (I'm still learning about this stuff !) and 20 stocks and funds (mostly stocks). The Wife's much smaller account is in 10 (mostly) high-quality stocks and 4 funds...and she's kicking my butt !!!

I'm doing my part to buy the dip today...sold my TZA that I'd been holding for a while, now that it finally climbed back into the green. On my B&H side, I picked up some BBT, CASC, FIS, and TQNT.

Thanks for stopping by !

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Stoplight,

Nice to hear things are going well. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Stoplight]

Stoplight,

Nice to hear things are going well. Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks, Nasa !

Did you get your "dealings" with the TSP resolved smoothly ? My monthly deductions are going through regularly. The only thing I didn't see...I thought you could adjust your monthly withdrawal each year, in January...but I didn't see anything from TSP, asking me about that Maybe it's because I just started mine in November...

No big deal...I probably wouldn't have adjusted it anyway...but next year I might, based on how my remaining TSP balance does this year !

You still taking that cruise ?

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Stoplight, I haven't taken my one time withdrawl yet. Market is doing good so I thought I would pad the account a little more. I hope to wait a few more years before I start withdrawing the money on a monthly basis.

Yep, still taking that cruise in March and we have another one planned for the end of October.

 

[Stoplight]

Took some profit today in the Wife's IRA..."Buy low, ...", well, you know the rest Sold her little chunk of McDonald's (MCD) to get that small lot off our books...

Sold some shares of her International Paper (IP)...man, that stock has just kept climbing lately ! It was up ~ 42% in the 13 months we've owned it, so I cashed some in


Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

Sold off another small lot (<$1 K) of the Wife's IRA shares of PAYX...this was another small lot we purchased when we first started getting going with her tiny IRA balance, before we rolled her 403(b)'s into her IRA. We're kinda like the market..."consolidating"

Remember...the Wife and I are now both retired, so our investment goals are probably different than many of you Youngsters. We just want to make enough to meet our "rule-of-thumb" 4%/year withdrawal rate...I think the term is "preservation of capital" or something like that...

Now, I just gotta figure out where to put the profits on these sales...sitting at money market rate isn't doing us ANY good ! I'm thinking of a nice, defensive, high-dividend utility stock...anybody got a suggestion ? We currently own some PEPCO (POM), paying 5.3%...

Stoplight...

 

[Scout333]

Now, I just gotta figure out where to put the profits on these sales...sitting at money market rate isn't doing us ANY good ! I'm thinking of a nice, defensive, high-dividend utility stock...anybody got a suggestion ? We currently own some PEPCO (POM), paying 5.3%...

Stoplight...

SO (Southern Company) Family has been in it for 20 years + JMHO

 

[Stoplight]

SO (Southern Company) Family has been in it for 20 years + JMHO

Scout,

Thanks for stopping by, AND posting !!!

Actually, I HAVE some SO in MY IRA !!! "Great minds think alike" !!!

It's only paying 4.3% right now, though...decent, but less than the POM she's already holding...OTOH, SO stock price is up ~6% since I bought it, 3 months ago, while POM is only up ~3% since we bought it in her account, a little over a year ago. Again, at this point in our lives, I'm not looking so much at stock price appreciation, but "income" !!!

Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

Doing some quarterly "portfolio rebalancing" today, which, for us, is mostly moving out of cash and into something else...ANYTHING else !!! Those money market rates are killing me...

Buying the dip...I'm light on transportation-related stocks, so I picked up some CMRE and ISH. Also bought some TNH for the "materials" side.

Quicken tells me I'm still too light in bonds in my old age, but I'm not crazy to put a lot into bonds at this time. Thus, I picked up some USAA Short-term and Ultra-Short term funds (USSBX and UUSTX) for now. Even if they just pay the 2-3% dividend, it's better than sitting in cash :embarrest:


Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

I have a question...

As an investor who has recently moved into self-directed IRA brokerage accounts from our other retirement vehicles (TSP and 403(b)'s), I'm a little confused on my USAA options of "Market", "Stop" and "Limit" orders for stock trades.

When I first started up this learning curve, I just chose "market". However, it seems like those orders got filled at a price that was below the current quote...sometimes significantly ! I've now started using a "stop" to specify the exact price I want, and that's helped a lot. However, I'm still confused about the difference between a "stop" and "limit", and even more by the combination of the 2 !

Can anyone furnish a Reader's Digest explanation, or a link to some sort of tutorial that even I can understand ?

Thanks for any and all comments, and help, in advance !


Stoplight...

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

Investopedia - Educating the world about finance

Limit Order Definition | Investopedia

Market Order Definition | Investopedia

Stop Order Definition | Investopedia

Start there and then ask for clarification

Investopedia is good for answers like this.

 

[Stoplight]

My little TSP balance is no longer worth reporting on...managing the ups, downs, and monthly withdrawals, based on a premium service...still on track to stay ahead of the monthly withdrawal rate...may get a month or 2 extra withdrawal from my original "Plan" !

On the Wife and my combined self-directed brokerage IRA's, based on our rollovers from our 403(b) and TSP accounts...Today I took a combo of taking some profits off the table, and re-allocation some stuff to higher dividend payer stocks...I'm paying a LOT more attention to the timing of dividend payers !!! Once a year doesn't cut it...

Sold my avocado grower stock (I LOVE avocados !! CVGW) for a $93 loss...currently paying 2.2% dividend, and paid only once a year...

Bought some Roundy's (RNDY) with the proceeds...dividend at 5.4%, payable quarterly...

Sold Bristol Meyer (BMY), and replaced it with Merck (MRK)...

Sold International Paper (IP)...had a GREAT run-up on that one !!! Replaced it with BP Prudhoe Bay Trust (BPT)...is it REALLY paying a 10 % dividend ??? We'll see !

So far, I'm staying ahead of my retirement account withdrawals in my retirement...that's a GOOD thing !

Good trading to you ALL !!!

Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

Ouch !!! Read that little flag Quicken gives you for a stock's news...found out Roundy's (RNDY) has acquired stores in the Chicago area (good ! That explains their pop the last few days), BUT they decided to suspend their dividends to fund further expansion (bad...for me !) :worried: I'm retired ! Looking for dividends, not long-term growth !!!

Sold it for a paper loss of $14, but the 1 dividend payment of $60 puts me in the black on this trade...

Moral of the story (for me !) is to keep current on the news, on stocks you hold !!!


Stoplight...

 

[polarbear]

I'm glad to hear you are breaking even and a little more versus your monthly withdrawals. I will write more in a bit, including my long-promised retirement essay like yours.
Vaguely similar, I am breaking even and a little more, so far, vis-à-vis my monthly withdrawals. Would like to be doing better than that. We'll see. Have got to be ever so careful in retirement.
But need to be getting ahead of the game in case of rough times, and you never know when that can happen. More so than so far.
Take care, bro! A friend of mine, also in retirement after federal service, has committed most of his shekels to a combination of Vanguard funds. That looks smart to me.

Polarbear

 

[Stoplight]

Sold my long term NPK for a ROI of ~20%...that's another one that paid their dividend (and "special dividend") once a year (if then !) I've been waiting to get their latest dividend, which finally DID post, and the stock was still in the black, so I sold...

Still had a problem with a "limit" order, but I think it was probably because the volume on NPK is so small...another negative about the stock...

Used the proceeds to pick up some NCT...I wanted some real estate in our portfolio, for the diversification. This MAY be a short trade, depending on how it does after the pending dividend payout...also looking at STWD for a long-term addition...

Also looking to buy the dip, when/if it happens, and add something in the manufacturing/industrial space...looking at MMM for my "buy-and-hold" side...not a great dividend, but not bad. Did you know 3M pretty much has a corner on the market for the reflective sign sheeting material that's used on traffic signs ? A good product, but expensive ! Trust me on this one There are an AWFUL lot of traffic signs out there...

My tiny TSP balance is sitting in F for now...at least it's still in the black since my buy-in ! Due a monthly withdrawal in a few days...

Good investing to all !!!


Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

...Also looking to buy the dip, when/if it happens, and add something in the manufacturing/industrial space...looking at MMM for my "buy-and-hold" side...not a great dividend, but not bad. Did you know 3M pretty much has a corner on the market for the reflective sign sheeting material that's used on traffic signs ? A good product, but expensive ! Trust me on this one There are an AWFUL lot of traffic signs out there...

Pulled the trigger on 3M (MMM) on today's dip, and added to my long-term , buy-and-hold portfolio...I may still consider more re-balancing , taking some profits from my high-flyers, and/or dumping the stinkers

Good investing to All !


Stoplight...