Category: Monthly Income Reports
Grant’s Monthly Stock Gain & Loss Report – 2015 January
Welcome to my January 2015 Stock Gain & Loss Report!
Every month I will post my stock gains and losses by using the BTMA Stock Analyzer.
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January 2015
Realized Gains/Losses ONLY
My Total Return -11.19%
S&P 500 Return -2.96%
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This Month’s Report Details:
In January, I suffered one large and significant loss with Herbalife (HLF). I also had a few other positive trades that offset some of the loss from Herbalife. These positive gains were realized by selling: Steve Madden Shoes (SHOO), Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), and Terra Nitrogen (TNH).
More Details About My Disappointing Herbalife Loss:
My shares of Herbalife (HLF) automatically sold at $29.90 when it unexpectedly fell in price to reach my stop order amount, which I had originally set as a protection measure.
While I still consider the company to be financially strong with factual data to prove it, this was a stock that the media has had an exaggerated effect on. It seemed like every day, the media was churning out negative articles and videos about HLF. Whether this information is true or false, it still has a negative effect on the stock price. Most of this hype was caused by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has wagered a billion dollar short bet that HLF will fail. He has spent approx. 50 million dollars in negative media about the company. You can read more about this story here:
My Lesson Learned:
My lesson learned from this is that even if the company has a strong proven record and factual data, there are still those rare exceptions when the media or very influential players can temporarily alter the game. Of course, I take full responsibility for my loss because I should not have entered a position into a company that was currently under such a large-scale investigation. I should have done more research on the company before purchasing to find out the full magnitude of this investigation and I should have been more considerate of the effect that Mr. Ackman could have on the stock price.
Furthermore, I would like to touch on the subject of network-marketing companies such as HLF. While there are several very good network-marketing companies, which are financially strong, these kind of companies are often misunderstood by the general public. Many people automatically think that these companies must be pyramid schemes and whether the company is or not, this first impression can give network-marketing companies a bad rap. In turn, this negative connotation can reduce the stock price.
In the future, I’ll try to be more careful in steering clear of these possible situations and I will be especially discerning when considering to purchase a network-marketing company until the general public begins to gain a better understanding of these companies.
My Past Results
Below is a table which includes my personal monthly returns from January 2013 to present:
-Grant
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Why do I post this information online?
I do it for 3 main reasons:
1. To be transparent.
I like to be up-front and show you that I’m a real person who actually invests in the stock market.
2. It’s nice to brag about good months and get positive feedback during those not-so-good months.
3. I hate being told that I can’t do something and stock investing is just another area where people have told me: “You couldn’t possibly do well. What do you know about stocks?” etc.
I want to prove that everyday people like myself can take control of their own finances, start investing with a common-sense approach, and produce better than average results.
If you’d like to receive instant email notifications of every stock that I buy and sell, CLICK HERE…
Thanks for checking out this month’s report!
-Grant