Don’t second-guess yourself… and avoid greed at all costs!

Another week with no moves in the Investments in Play portfolio left me kicking myself after I raised my sell target on Apple (AAPL). Apple had exhibited such strength last week (and through much of this week) that I thought it would test its all-time high, even though my price target was $179.41 where my discipline dictated I needed to reduce its allocation size in the portfolio.

Well, on Wednesday, Apple would have triggered my sell order at $179.41 and then reversed direction just $0.20 later, hitting a high of $179.61 before pulling back for the rest of the week. Had I just stuck with my initial plan and kept to my discipline instead of getting greedy, I would have locked in a 15%+ gain on shares I bought less than two months ago.

Instead, now I have to plan for a more extreme pullback. Turns out long-term investing is a lot like taking the SATs: you should always trust your first instinct.