Robert Freedland

Why I Swapped Haemonetics for Oshkosh

Patrick,

Congratulations on your "infallible" trading account. And your good luck with Oshkosh. Be careful with that margin account as sometimes we can get a bit over-confident and end up leveraging our losses. The small size of my purchases is an indication of the small size of this particular account, does not reflect either a wealth or paucity of wisdom behind the trades!

Thanks for taking the time to write!


On Aug 10 11:52 PM Patrick Bell wrote:

> Freedland, you hasve been trading since 2003 and you are only buying
> $2,400 worth of stock. I have been trading for 6 months only since
> I just got out of prison and I am already up to 450 shares of Oshkosh.
> Yes that is around $12,000. I just bought Oshkosh on Monday Aug,
> 10, 2009 at 26.67 a share. If this stock goes to $35 like S&P
> predicts I stand to make $3,800 on this single purchase. The reason
> I was able to move up so fast is because my trading strategy is infallable
> and I have a margin accound that allows me to work with more money.
>
>
> Patrick Bell
> West Bend, WI
> [e-mail]

Why I Sold Oshkosh

Good point on whipsaw with O'Neil. However, I have found it quite effective to arbitrarily limit losses. I don't want a small loss to become a giant hole in my portfolio. And it hasn't been happening. But there may well be stocks that are so volatile that any limited loss like an 8% limit just simply isn't reasonable or effective.


On Aug 27 12:01 PM ktchnsnk wrote:

> your o'neill whipsaw is ready, mister freedland...
>
> gave up on that canslim stuff for just that reason.

Why I Sold Oshkosh

That was a terrific purchase....$6.75/share! OSK has had a wild ride the past couple of years. If they can sort out this $2 billion military contract situation (and they just got another $189 million), this stock should fly right back to its prior heights. Good-luck!


On Aug 21 03:59 PM User 474955 wrote:

> I purchased 185 shares of Osh Kosh at 6.75 a shrare. I more than
> tripled my money; however I am not going to see because I fell Osh
> Kosh is a stong company both in the Military and Civilian arenas.
> if you look at the history of Osh Kosh before the recession they
> were trading around $60.00 a share!

Why I Sold Oshkosh

Patrick,

I am sorry you found my action 'idiotic'. I too am embarassed by my timing on Oshkosh. I am not interested in further discussions with you directly but would be happy to respond to your comments here or on my blog.

In general, it is wise to limit losses. This isn't my creation. This is standard trading and investing strategy most clearly explained by William O'Neil in "How to Make Money in Stocks". I very much respect Mr. O'Neil and believe that many of his CANSLIM approaches are worth considering.

I am very bullish on Oshkosh (OSK) over the long haul. My own sale was based on simply the technical drop in price which as you point out may well be a short-term event. I also would not be surprised to see OSK trading at $35 in the near future.

Thank you for taking the time to comment and offering me an opportunity to discuss this further with you. I certainly will consider this in the future, but meanwhile look forward to your comments here in the future and hopefully they will be of a little more positive and less derisive tone which doesn't really benefit anyone.

Why I Swapped Haemonetics for Oshkosh

Richard,
Thanks for your note. OSK now doing a stock sale so I may be behind on the data from Morningstar. Regardless, I have also now sold my shares with only a 3 day ownership of this stock--due to the price decline, I hit my own (8)% loss limit.

Thanks for writing and commenting. You made an outstanding sale at $32.50.