Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

Monday, 14th December 2009 10:35 - by Boredmum

Don’t you just love that saying ‘Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire’? Well, that is exactly what happened to me. I was watching some prices fluctuate on my monitor and noticed a news release (RNS) come through for Ascent Resources (TIDM code: AST). On reading, it seemed that a previous venture with San Severina (a Swiss based investment company) had been terminated. The bid price was 5p and I thought I would quickly sell some of my holding before the sp had a chance to start ticking down. Well, I sold half my holding (at a substantial loss) and figured the money would be put to better use elsewhere. I was already holding Caledon Resources (TIDM code: CDN) and my thinking was that we must surely be getting close to a deal being struck for the company. Straight into Caledon I went. Caledon already had an RNS symbol showing due to a ‘Holdings’ RNS that morning. I noticed that, all of a sudden, the price was behaving erratically with lots of movement. Just as well I checked so quickly, as there was another RNS to state that the company was no longer in bid talks. Well, I quickly sold, the first lot at 52p and the second lot in my other account at 48p; both at a loss I’m afraid. Now I have to say that my timing going into Caledon this time was just unfortunate. I’m sure you can imagine how I felt with that. Under normal circumstances I am very diligent in working out my profit and loss. I tend to analyse all my trades, but in these two instances I can’t bring myself to add it up. I made a loss, and added to that loss quicker than I had wished. There was no point in looking at it further and certainly, in the case of Caledon, I just had to get out quickly. I would like to buy Caledon again. Writing this, I can see the share price is 34p to buy, so I was certainly wise in my decision to cut it quickly. I always knew if the deal to buy the company was off there would be a sp fall that would be way over-done. In fact, I have previously written about it. With regards to Ascent, the bid ticked down to 4.5p. I can buy back in right now at 5p or sell at 4.75p, so not too much change there. All-in-all, a very unfortunate piece of trading. I hope no one else has luck like that.