uncommon sense investing

Investing for about 25 years and enjoy analyzing companies, especially special situations. I live in the US, have a PhD in the biological sciences, with about 20 years experience In clinical development and commercialiation/marketing of Therapeutic biologics, small molecules, and medical devices.

As I have grown older, my philosophy has evolved from one of short-term trading, to finding stocks that can be held longer-term, preferably forever. I enjoy researching biotech stocks, but seldom invest here due to the volatility and risks. I rely on my own fundamental analysis but will also consider chart patterns when deciding opportunities to buy or sell. I always do my best to figure in investor & analyst ...More psychology, and use basic financials to reassure me of my analysis (including mistakes) when volatility gets extreme. Do not consider myself to be an expert on technical analysis and as a scientist with training in statistics, am skeptical of that the historical movements of a stock can be used to reliably forecast buy/sell signals (if charting were that reliable as a predictive indicator, everyone would be using this to their advantage).

In addition to looking at company's financials, I like to consider companies that are positioned to capitalize on changing demographics (growing per capita income in developing countries, aging of America, obesity epidemic, etc.), and strongly prefer companies with a wide economic moat. I frequently sell covered calls to mitigate and take adtvantage of market volatility. When I find a high conviction company that I want to own, not infrequently I will sell naked puts to reduce my cost basis and generate some cash flow.