SMRT

[Temperament]

But the mental baggage of 2 highly cyclical stocks in the shipping sector is holding me back. Because IMHO shipping sector is about to turn maybe in a year or two.

We are in the same boat. I also have one dry bulk shipping stock in my portfolio that is in heavy loss situation. I am not prepare to sell not because I think the tide is turning, but because the price has dropped so much that if I liquidate now, I am not able to cash out a meaningful amount for other use. Sorry, I know my logic is flawed, but mental baggage is hard to explain....

No your logic is not flawed because our sentiments (feelings) are always stronger and overpowered our logic.
I have the same experience as you. Do you know "Rotary Engineering"? i have it since IPO time. When it suddenly shot up to $1+ i sold some. i should have sold all but i keep some till now. i am waiting for another turn-around or i may sell it even with a loss or minimum profit.

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Hi Pubster,

To comfort you further, my "education fee" is even larger. Easily twice or more than that of Temperament. But hey! I learnt my lesson, and is doing much better in the past 2 years! I even recoup my losses and make at net profit!

Sorry, i think i have let you mistaken me somehow or somewhere. Though my remainder portfolio is losing money i have over-all realised portfolio gain UTD from 2008 till now.
What is most important to note is you will make mistakes in individual stock purchase but despite of it you should still make money over all your portfolio.

Hi Uncle Temperament,

Very likely I mistaken you as you are talking about "balance of your portfolio". For my first 4years (2007-2010), my portfolio is fully taken down by the GFC, then in 09-10, while the market rally, I found that the stocks that I was holding were not moving as much, though some do recover, but never to the level I bought in. And most of these are big names. Slowly, I decided to give up on some of my "darlings" and take the remaining to invest in other companies, including REITs, that emphasize on sustainable dividend. After I see some results in my "re-allocation" exercise, I did more re-allocation and invested more money into the market.

For beginners, you have done very well indeed. Yes, you have the gumption not to run away from the market. You should do well going forward. Just remember to make it into your lifetime "hobby".
Congratulations again! i think you have got it.

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Trying my best. Thanks.

And please remember i am just a retail investor. Or some like to call me "POP & MUM" investor. Ha! Ha!
Cheers!