Page 868 - How to Make Money in Stocks Trilogy

130 HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN STOCKS SUCCESS STORIES

market and leading stocks. If she has a busy work week, Katrina will catch
up and make sure that at the very least, she writes in her journal on a weekly
basis. By putting her thoughts down on a regular basis, she can go back and
see what her perspective was at the time about stocks that she owned as well
as the general market.
Katrina also does an extensive post analysis of her trades. She prints out
daily and weekly charts when she buys or sells a stock. This provides her
with a chart diary that includes her reasons for buying or selling a stock and
what the fundamentals were at the time, such as earnings, sales, and return
on equity.

Post Analysis Guidelines
The primary purpose of any post analysis is to formulate specific rules that
address your unique weaknesses.
Your post analysis should lead you to a better understanding of the nature
and essence of your trading successes and failures.

1. Throughout the year, print daily and weekly charts upon buying or
selling a stock.

2. Once a year, organize the charts for the previous 12 months based on
performance.

3. Analyze your largest percent gainers and largest percent losers.
4. As you study your individual trades, ask yourself these questions:
• Did I break any rules?
• Did I enter the position correctly?
• What percentage of the portfolio ended up in leading groups and
stocks?
• Did I buy at the right time?
• Did my emotions cause me to sell?
• Did I miss big opportunities by selling too early?

• Was I heavily on margin? Did I handle the additional risk correctly?
• Did I miss obvious clues to sell or fail to sell at the right time?
• Did I evaluate my individual stock and portfolio risk for each decision?
• What happened to my stocks after I sold them?