Sold stock ((NYSE:BEE) at a loss for tax deduction (in year end of 2009), but forgot to buy it back in Jan 2010. Now the stock doubled the price from where I sold it. I am not trying to predict the stock price in near term, or think “what if” from hindsight here. I think one key reason I did not hold the stock is still due to my ignorance: I don’t know how to value it (as REIT). I saw someone put an quite optimistic est. at around $2.50 in last Dec.
Back the topic, another reason I think I did not hold the stock is because it dropped precipitously in last Dec., and I started to sell some after initially bought quite a few shares. As I sold when the stock started bouncing, I sold too early. After a while I only have a few thousand shares, I sold them at around $2: thinking to take advantage of the loss for tax deduction, and hope to get back when the price drop again the the Jan.
But obviously I did not jump back to this bandwagon in Jan.
Think long term and trade less
I have quite a few stock lessons lately, as I became new dad and think more long term about the finance (hint: pay for kids’ college), I think I need to focus more on long term.
A second point is “trade less”, as shown in the previous example, when I started to sell shares of BEE, little by little, my mind was already set to sell “all the shares”, especially when there are only a few shares left.
She was born in St. John’s Mercy Medical center St. Louis, labor room 5, at 6:55 AM CST, on May 5 2010 (Friday). She weighs 7 pounds (3.15 kg). Mom and baby were both doing fine. Obviously our lives changed forever since her arrival. For me personally, I need to worry about two people instead of one; and vice versa. The first 2 days at hospital after baby born is a bit overwhelming. Things calmed down quite a bit after the initial panic. And I think we both become more confident about taking care of baby as time goes: diaper change, swaddle, and feed the baby (for my wife).
Babies are fun
They are a million times fun than iPhone, or at least a thousand times fun than computer programming. Maybe my wife will disagree with me on this one. Nowadays because I work in office (instead of home), I see my baby only in early morning and evening, so I tried to spend some quality time with her (like changing diaper and burp). It seems to me our baby has some change everyday. The first 24 hours is obviously very sleepy. After that she is more active, besides the cries every baby does, I can see her smile a little from yesterday.
Some trivia stuff
A year ago this time (March 5, 6 and 9) is the 10 year low of US stock market (Dow Jones stock index).
I found some iPhone apps for baby: like this one “baby brain” and “total baby” (available at iTune app store), both tracks baby diaper change and feeding, among other things. I thought about this when my wife started write those information on a notebook (although she has iPhone).
The average age of your credit history is one factor that goes into determining your credit score. At fifteen percent of your score, having a longer credit history can make a big difference. This is one reason why it makes sense to start building credit as a student; the younger you are when you get your first card, the longer your credit history will be. You may also need to start building credit as a student so you’ll have a good credit history when it comes time to make all those adult purchases, such as buying a car or a house.
While building credit as a student is a great idea, your efforts can also backfire if you don’t go about them properly. Fortunately, with a little bit of research and effort, you can start building your credit responsibly. Start with these five tips to help you out.
How to deal with 401k when leaving a job?
Some options:
1) Take it out, with 10% penalty, and potential income tax later on. This is usually not recommended.
2) Rollover to an Rollover IRA; or Rollover to the new employer’s 401k.
I did this once: not because of change of job, but because of change of company ownership, I have opportunity to rollover some of the 401k money into Vanguard Rollover IRA in year 2007. That money didn’t recover to the initial value so far.
3) Leave it alone (until 59 1/2 years old).
I did this when I left my former employer in Oct. 2008 (the middle of financial crisis), it turns out to be a good move (or no-op), as the value recovered from the crisis.
Should I open a traditional IRA or Roth IRA?
Tax deduction: IRS publication here.
Particularly in the IT (software development) field. Obviously the No. 1 thing is “never give up”. I started looking about 9 months ago when I felt “the need to look”: both for defense (fear of lay off) and offense (opportunities better matching my interest and skill). I had to admit finding a job is not an easy thing in this environment. Why look for another job while one still has a job (besides the main reason behind the change)? The simple answer is, only when a person still has a job or other sources of income, he/she will have the space to look for something better.
First want to say “Happy Chinese New Year” to my readers. Chinese (lunar) New Year, the year of tiger, starts on Feb 14, 2010.
Today is my last working day with my current employer. I switched to my current job about 15.5 months ago, in the middle of financial crisis (what an co-incident). I recall in last Chinese New Year’s day I was on road for business (the downside of consultant job). Obviously there is upside of working as consultant too (see different people and places; working from home, again Pros and Cons there).
I will start my new job on Monday Feb 15. Another co-incidence is my next employer and my first employer starts with same syllabus.
BTW, an excellent YouTube video on “how to quit with class” (saw it from Workopolis first).
Got opportunity to play with Palm Pre for couple minutes in the weekend. Sprint kiosk at Chesterfield Mall has the real Pre (instead of the faked phones at many other places). I was very impressed by the screen, both the (multi) touch and the display. Surfed the web: amazon, ESPN etc. Zooming in and out is very similar to iPhone (using two fingers). Checked out the tiny keyboard, it feels OK. Initially I thought it’s not “qwerty” keyboard, I was wrong: it was just different from the keyboard of my Blackberry 8800, as you can see from this picture at PreCentral: .
"古人云，人不自信谁人信之." Others won't believe in you unless you believe yourself. --Chinese proverb
Hello, world :-) I am not another stock expert. I am an ordinary guy who believes: by lifetime learning, indepenent analysis and disciplined investing, little guys can achieve great return.
I grew up in China. Currently I am working toward CFA level II. Here I'm blogging about business, finance, stocks, other fun stuffs in the US and China. Comments and Email are welcome.
