Timing is crucial

Wednesday, 6th May 2009 13:22 - by Boredmum

In the stockmarket, timing is everything...when to buy and when to sell. Trouble is; I just keep getting the timing wrong with some missed opportunities. I’ll give you a few examples: Aricom (TIDM code: ORE) - I held this stock for a couple of months, buying it around 8-9p and watched it continually fluctuate between 7-10p. Eventually, I got fed up watching it and sold for a small profit at about 10-10.5p. In less than a week the share price shot up to 17.5p! It really was just a matter of days after I had sold. It then continued to climb up to 30p. European Nickel PLC (TIDM code: ENK) - I read a newspaper article that stated there was rumour of an offer with a suspected 8p target price. I bought a small amount at just under 3p and thought that even if I sell for 5p, I have taken a profit really quickly. That was the plan, but the share price didn’t really move on the rumour. I held them for a couple of days and then sold for £80 profit. I took that profit about 4.20pm, and on the next day the share price opened at 10p. My profit would have been about £1,400 if I’d held for one more day. The funny thing was it wasn’t even the suspected offer that moved the share price, but news of funding instead. Last week I had Condor Resources (TIDM code: CNR) on my watch-list. I even went so far as getting a quote from my Broker, but then decided against it as the spread was too wide. I don’t think the spread would have been an issue when it shot up 120% in one day. I bought Autonomy Charts (TIDM code: AU.) on results day and figured this will be good for a quick £100. All day, there was very little movement, so I sold taking £16 and went to dry my hair (10 minutes I was gone). On my return, I saw if I’d waited I could have easily had my £100. Every time I play Royal Bank of Scotland (TIDM code: RBS), I swear there is a switch inside my PC that triggers the price to rise as soon as I sell. I can sit on it for a day or two and the second I decide to come out, it quickly rises. At least they are all just missed opportunities and not losses. Do you have any shares that you are kicking yourself for not getting the timing right on?