 | | Three Lessons From the Worst Trade I Ever Made | | Marc Lichtenfeld, Chief Income Strategist, The Oxford Club | Bill O'Reilly Did What?!?
 Bill O'Reilly is no stranger to controversy. The mainstream media LOVES bashing him.
And they might just have a field day with this. Because Bill is releasing his most controversial project yet.
See what it's all about right here. | | | Editor's Note: Today, Marc shares an investing lesson that he learned early in his career during the dot-com boom.
Now he's committed to showing readers how they can dodge avoidable heartbreak in their own investing...
That's why he developed SafetyNet Pro, his proprietary tool for gauging the safety of dividend stocks' payouts. The system alerts readers if cuts are imminent or if the company is a trusted vehicle for their savings.
Click here to learn how you can gain access to SafetyNet Pro. Then, read on below to discover how this seasoned pro learned one of the market's toughest lessons.
- Mable Buchanan, Assistant Managing Editor
At a recent talk I gave to Oxford Club employees, I was asked about the worst trade I ever made and what I learned from it.
I learned a heck of a lot, let me tell you.
Back during the dot-com boom, nearly two decades ago when I was just three years into my career, I bought shares of an online sports video company called Quokka. | | | | Question of the Week | | Have you ever held a company that was acquired or that underwent a merger?
Click here to answer. | | Don't bother looking it up. It doesn't exist anymore.
It streamed live niche sporting events and signed a deal to broadcast Olympic sports like kayaking and others that wouldn't be shown on network television.
It had cool technology, but as a business, it was garbage.
This was also the time before everyone had broadband. Almost everyone had dial-up internet. So watching video was difficult.
I knew that. But like so many people during those go-go days of the internet, I planned on owning the shares just for a little while and then selling for a nice profit.
The catalyst was going to be the Olympics. When Quokka started getting media coverage for broadcasting events, the stock would surely shoot higher and I'd make a bundle.
I bought more stock than I should have. I couldn't sleep - I was so worried about the position.
The stock quickly doubled. I told my wife I wanted to take half off the table and play with the house's money, as I realized I had bought too much in the first place and wanted to lower my risk.
She wanted to let it ride. We were saving for a house, and if the stock continued higher, we may have had enough for a down payment.
We disagreed for a while until she challenged my manhood...
So you know how this ended up. I held the stock. | | | "God Wins" Breakthrough science from the Holy Land confirms that this forbidden "divine medicine" beats hopeless diseases. It has the power to restore heart health... clean Alzheimer's pollution from brain cells... and kill cancer cells in 24 hours. But Big Pharma doesn't want you to have it.
>>Go HERE now. | | | I had bought Quokka at $7. I had wanted to sell half at $15. When it hit $12, I said, "When it gets back to $15, I'm selling."
At $10, I said, "When it goes back up to $12, I'm selling."
At $7, where I was back at breakeven, I told myself, "I have to make some kind of profit, so I'll dump it at $8."
At $5, I said, "If I get back to breakeven, I'm out." At $3, I said, "$5 sounds great."
I rode it to zero.
What did I learn from this?
- Don't let a trade become an investment. I had a specific goal in mind: a short-term trade for quick profits. Then I ended up holding the stock for much longer.
Once I realized I was wrong, I should have gotten out quickly. A trailing stop would have done the job nicely, allowing me to participate in further upside but getting me out of the trade after a decline. - Don't take on more risk than you can handle. I bought too much stock. No investment should cause you so much stress that you lose sleep.
- If you're married, make decisions together. You both don't have to be stock pickers, but big-picture things should be discussed.
One partner should not be uncomfortable with an investment decision. Financial issues cause a lot of stress in marriages, especially if one partner thinks they are taking too much risk.
Understanding what each partner is comfortable with ahead of time will help alleviate some of that stress. I wasn't embarrassed to share that story with my colleagues or with you. Like every investor before me, I had to pay tuition to learn valuable lessons.
I just wish the tuition for this particular lesson hadn't been so expensive...
Good investing,
Marc | | | | | | "The Lifeblood of the New Economy" Is in Her Hand...
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The Oxford Club is a financial publisher that does not offer any personal financial advice or advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment for any specific individual. Members should be aware that although our track record is highly rated by an independent analysis and has been legally reviewed, investment markets have inherent risks and there can be no guarantee of future profits. The stated returns may also include option trades. 
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