Panic selling and buying

sidneyyoungblood

Thanks for all the comments and advice...  It really is a flaw in my personality that I am prone to fomo which lasts for a few days then dies off - happened with crypto , gold , et c all which I resisted so does not affect me as much as owning then selling  .

Nearly all  my single shares were bought during covid with very little research apart from Palantir which was bought around 2 years but again just on one article discussing the next NVDA.

The falling price was not the  only reason I sold , due to the increase in value of the share it became around 20% of my portfolio , then articles about an AI bubble , and  reading up about Palantir having a massive PE of 400 and insider selling  - then  when the  shares dropped around 15% in a few days  I panicked and sold 90%  - This was last Thursday.


In my case it really does feel like gambling rather than investing , I do have savings to fall back on but at 50 feel like I am running out of time .

Really irrational , if I never owned Palantir and someone said to invest 20k on monday I would never do it but as the funds were gained from their feels different especially as I had "skin in the game"... it must be greed / fomo...

Cus

The 'running out of time' comment is significant.  If this means that you are chasing higher returns instead of the generally recommended methods because you have calculated that you 'have to' because otherwise you won't have enough, then you either need to accept that you will not have enough and do the recommended methods, or you have to clinically switch off the emotions of the what it's, and accept those uncomfortable feelings.  Tough one.

Edit to add: and to your specific question about handling the feeling of regret and panic after selling. No point looking backwards, focus on the future plan and be disciplined with your emotions 

LHW99

The falling price was not the  only reason I sold , due to the increase in value of the share it became around 20% of my portfolio

IMO that's not a bad reason for selling, particularly if you have decided that you don't want any holding to become more than X% of the total - it's often known as "rebalancing".

It helps if you have decided the percentage before time of course....

Linton

LHW99 said:

The falling price was not the  only reason I sold , due to the increase in value of the share it became around 20% of my portfolio

IMO that's not a bad reason for selling, particularly if you have decided that you don't want any holding to become more than X% of the total - it's often known as "rebalancing".

It helps if you have decided the percentage before time of course....

Rebalancing of course is a normal part of investment management but you should apply it consistently, not just when you get frightened.