Stock Trading Styles

This is a very interesting article on Visual Capitalist. It talks about 4 styles of stock trading of Position Trading, Swing Trading, Day Trading and Scalp Trading. I am definitely in the first category, but do a bit of the second. I would not fit the third or fourth categories at all.

My holding period for stocks can be one year (for resource and tech stocks) to forever for the stocks that are the mainstay of my portfolio. I still have stocks I bought in the 1980’s. However, for a lot of stocks it seems that you cannot hold them forever. Great stocks can go bad. Stocks can be bought out. Companies can also go bankrupt. Others are sold because they are a disappointment and you believe that they were going nowhere.

An example for me of a great stock going bad would be Bombardier. At the beginning when I held this stock it just went up and split then went up and split and went up and split. It seemed to have lost its way in 2000 and has never really recovered.

One of my earliest stocks was Labatt’s and this was bought out by Belgian brewer Interbrew in 1995. I bought this stock in 1983 and was forced to sell in 1995. I made a total return of 11.81% per year with 6.68% per year from capital gains and 5.13% per year from dividends.

I bought a small trust company called Financial Trust in 1988 because of an article I read in a newspaper about it. I knew it was a bit risky, but I did not think it would go bankrupt. However, it did go bankrupt before the year was out.

One stock that disappointed me was Hees International which I bought in 1987 and sold in 1999 having held it for just over 11 years. I made a total return on this stock of 3.40% per year with a capital loss of 1.18% per year and dividends of 4.58% per year. Hees International became Edper Group, then EdperBrascan Corporation, then Brascan Corporation and now it is Brookfield Asset Management Inc. I sold because I thought the stock was going nowhere.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Smart REIT (TSX-SRU.UN, OTC-CWYUF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Just Energy Group Inc. (TSX-JE, NYSE-JE) ... learn more on Friday, September 14, 2018 around 5 pm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

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