Patience as the pitches develop

“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”  – Thomas A. Edison

Intel reports strong numbers, but can’t guide up. Stock is down about 4%. CREE reports weak numbers and blames their North American sales staff. Stock is down 8%. STX reports strong numbers and guides higher. Stock is up 4%. There’s some “rational” responses to the earnings reports from last night, which are easier to see than say, Google’s stock split/earnings report/Motorola guidance was. We might be taking a swing at some earnings report gambles.

“Practice, Perseverance, and Patience-Win always.”- Charles Atlas

That said, you guys might have noticed that I’ve not been very aggressive in my trading of late, and that’s been a function of several factors:

1. We had a huge run in both the stock markets and in our portfolios and I started to get bearish at the top and moved to raise cash.

2. Jim Cramer once told me during one of our sit downs to review my hedge fund strategies and positions back in 2003 (my interpretation): “Bet big when the odds are in your favor and the payoff will be huge. Bet smaller when you’re just confident. Wait it out when you don’t like the set up.”

We’ve been betting smaller because we’ve been confident, but you’ve also seen a large element of me just waiting it out while I haven’t liked the set up. Recall back when the markets were at lows and I was aggressive and betting big because I thought the odds were in our favor and the payoff would be huge. That time will come again, probably soon. But one of the characteristics that separates the great traders from everybody else in the market is “patience”.

“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have patience and your portfolio will reward you over time. Patience pays interest and dividends. Patience, and waiting for the right pitch, is how we will continue to blow away the markets. Have patience.

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” – Saint Augustine