Trading For Tannins: This Week's Wins & Losses

DISCLAIMER: The content of this post is not financial advice and is for educational and tracking purposes only. I am not a licensed financial advisor. The trades listed below are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Trading involves significant risk and you can lose money. Always do your own research before investing. Please note that I will not answer questions regarding trades, strategies, or general stock trading. Those questions should always be handled by a licensed financial advisor.

🍷 CELEBRATING A GREEN WEEK

I’m grateful whenever the stars align with my market moves. While I’ll never disclose actual dollar amounts for my gains and losses, I’ll confess this week’s profit taking would’ve comfortably covered two separate three day/two night wine country getaways. (Complete with hotel accommodations, meals and four bottle of premium wine, too!)

More importantly, this week’s activity served as a flawless live demonstration of my core philosophy in action.

• Strategic Reallocation: A series of transactions successfully reallocated capital from a single defensive stock into three unrelated industries, drastically strengthening my portfolio’s backbone. 
• Capital Protection: Another tactical exit allowed me to pocket a nominal gain on a position that experienced a sharp dip immediately following its purchase.
• Loss-Free Execution: Although only three trades resulted in a 5% or greater gain I didn’t incur any losses. 

Regardless of the dollar amount, making money on every sale is the kind of trading week I strive for.

📝 MY CORE TRADING PHILOSOPHY

For new and existing readers, here are the rules that govern how I manage my account positions:

• The Target: I buy and hold a position with the goal of securing a 5% or greater gain before executing a sale.
• The Reality Check: The market never guarantees a return. There’s always a risk an executed sale may generate a gain below my goal, or worse yet, a direct loss of capital.
• The Capital: My trading account represents a small fraction of my net worth. These trades serve as a potential additional revenue stream to complement my other long-term investments.
• The Opportunity Cost: The possibility exists that I can miss out on even greater gains when I execute a sale that meets or exceeds my 5% target.

No human can perfectly time the market — not even me. All I can do is manage my entry and exit points and accept the outcomes. Now that you know how I roll, let’s review this week’s win and losses.

🏦 TRADES EXECUTED THIS WEEK

To maintain strict personal privacy, all individual share quantities and raw dollar values are omitted. Instead, allocations are tracked conceptually by entry targets and realized percentage gains.

Portfolio Purchases (Buys)

• Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) | Acquired during a midday dip ahead of their quarterly earnings announcement.
• PepsiCo (PEP) | A defensive dividend addition to complement my earlier Verizon (VZ) purchase.
• Simon Property Group, Inc. (SPG) | I doubled my allocation at a lower price point, which  slightly lowered my cost basis.
• Ford (F) | Added a third defensive pillar to my portfolio.
• Cisco Systems (CSCO) | I found an agreeable entry point following a post-earnings dip.
• Salesforce (CRM) | Similar to LITE, I executed this trade during a midday dip ahead of their quarterly earnings announcement.
• Altria Group Inc (MO) | Replaced Verizon (VZ) as part of my defensive strategy.

Portfolio Liquidations (Sells)

• Verizon (VZ), Batch #1 | +2.5% gain | Trimmed 40% of my total position to free up liquid capital.
• Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) | +6.6% gain | Capitalized on a strong post-earnings momentum bounce.
• Western Digital (WDC) | Nominal Gain | A capital protection exit following an immediate post-purchase dip.
• SanDisk (SNDK) | +5.6% gain | Profit-taking triggered by a broader AI sector momentum surge.
• Simon Property Group, Inc. (SPG) | Nominal Gain | A capital protection exit after flat, sideways price action.
• Verizon (VZ), Batch #2 | +3.8% gain | A secondary trim of my holdings to secure profits.
• PepsiCo (PEP) | +2.3% gain | Strategically trimmed my position to free up liquid capital.
• Verizon (VZ), Final Batch | +5.1% gain | Pocketed an unexpected gain midday today.

💡 MY PORTFOLIO STRATEGY: BALANCING THE DIVIDEND BACKBONE

Relying on a steady stream of dividend income is a prudent strategy, but true resilience requires spreading the risk. For example, if a sudden downturn in one sector occurs, other sectors are typically insulated from the shock waves. I now anchor my portfolio with Ford (F), PepsiCo (PEP) and Altria Group Inc (MO) but these defensive adjustments came at a cost. 

• Tax Implications: The liquidations of PEP and VZ shares will incur short-term capital gains taxes.
• Missed Dividends: Because I executed the sells before the companies’ official Ex-Dividend Dates, I do not qualify for dividends on those liquidated shares.

I can’t complain when I now hold stakes in three blue-chip giants whose reliable dividend streams can be reinvested every quarter.

🔔 AFTER HOURS

I currently hold the following open positions as we head into the weekend:

• PepsiCo (PEP)
• Ford (F)
• Cisco Systems (CSCO)
• Salesforce (CRM)
• Altria Group Inc (MO)

🚌 A LESSON LEARNED: AUTOMATED RISK MANAGEMENT

This week marked a major milestone in my trading mechanics when I learned how to place a Sell Stop-Limit order immediately after a trade acquisition to mitigate potential losses.

This tool would’ve made my week a lot less stressful if I had known about this before I bought Western Digital (WDC). Immediately after it’s purchase the price dipped over 5% below my cost basis. Luckily I dodged a bullet when the stock recovered a few sessions later. The moment I realized I could break even, I executed a sale that resulted in a nominal gain.

To ensure this never happens again, I submitted my very first stop-limit orders after buying Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Salesforce (CRM) this morning. If the price dips below a certain dollar amount below my cost basis, an automatic sale will trigger. Now I can execute trades without losing sleep over unforeseen dips.

🤔 A NOT SO RANDOM THOUGHT: MOVING FROM GOOD TO GREAT

While I had a great trading week, I acknowledge I can do better. My overall performance isn’t a concern but I want to deliver more consistent results. 

If I publicly admit I have an affinity for stock trading, then I must also confess a little luck played a role in my wins ever since I traded my first stock years ago. To completely remove luck from the equation I’m actively focusing on three core pillars:

• Read charts properly to spot high-probability entries.
• Understanding market trends rather than fighting against them.
• Anticipate external hazards that can erode market capitalization in real time.

I don’t want to be “good” at this. I want to build a strategy great enough so I’ll never return to the cube farm.