Jim Cramer Says, "Discipline Trumps Conviction"

How Much Is Enough?
I love how Cramer talks about going to movies to distract himself from the stock markets when his fund was up big going into the end of the year.  I can't say that is the approach I am taking, but currently I am very, very careful about putting new money into this market.  Not everyone has the luxury of sitting, watching the markets, and being able to day trade.  Still, with most price charts running up into the top right corner of the chart, it would seem to me to be a good time to shorten one's investing horizon. Why give up all, or even most of those hard earned gains?

Setting Targets
To me, this speaks to the importance of setting targets, then taking profits as those targets are achieved.  Fund managers are all in at this point, and pushing hard on the few stocks showing the most promise - not a good time to be in more speculative stocks.  The personal investor has the distinct advantage of being able to get in and out of the market very quickly.  Most personal investing goals for the year, if they were in any way reasonable, should already have been met.  Time to spend more time at the movies!

How is your portfolio doing?