10/31   Bought a bunch of GOOG at ~$450. Sold 1/2 at around $650. I'm
        thinking of dumping 1/2 again (1/4 of original). What do you
        guys think? Are you holding on or what?
        \_ I bought at $300 and sold at $550, but only because my wife
           wanted a kitchen remodel. In general, I think buy and hold
           is the best solution, though I will often do as you do and
           sell half after a significant runup. If I was still holding
           GOOG, I would have sold half at $600 and be keeping the rest.
           \_ Ok so let's say you sold 1/2 at $600, how much higher would
              it have to be before you decided to sell another 1/2?
              \_ I use trailing stops, so it would have to hit my stop. I
                 would never sell a stock just because it has gone up "too
                 much." I have learned the hard way that this is a bad idea.
                 In a stock that had gone up that much, my trailing stock
                 would be waaay back there, like 25% below where it is now.
                 Ideally, I would want to hold it until retirement. I can
                 give you a list of stocks that I am currently holding
                 that have gone up 200% or more that I will probably never
                 sell. I can also give you a list of stocks that I sold
                 too soon because I thought they had already gone up
                 "enough."
                 \_ I thought about this some more and decided that
                    my best advice is for you is to come up with
                    some guidelines for yourself that determine when
                    you should buy and sell (before you buy) and stick
                    to those rules. Change the rules on the basis of
                    what you learn over time. You first need to decide
                    why you are investing and if the answer is just
                    "try to make money fast" then the stockmarket is
                    possibly not the right venue for that.
        \_ I bought at $450 and am holding pending a significant change
           in the business or the environment.  -tom
           \_ Of course, the problem here is if there is a significant change,
              all the brokers will be able to sell faster than you and the
              price will drop before you can sell.  I've read that you get
              within 20% of what you think the max should be you're doing great
              \_ I'm not trying to time the market; I'm staying invested in
                 a company with good revenues, earnings, and growth potential.
                 You are correct that if Google misses significantly on
                 earnings, the stock will go down.  20% would be a drop of
                 140 points; I'm pretty sure I would manage to sell if there
                 were a fundamental change, before Google drops 140 points.
                   -tom
        \_ I'm generally a buy and hold guy, but this is an unusual case.  It
           really depends on what you think.  Are you a "The sky is the limit"
           GOOG guy, or are you a "Tech Bubble 2.0" guy?  If you're the former,
           hold on.  If you're the latter, sell it all and count your money.
           It's already been a great investment, I think you could sell with
           out regret. But I'm a "Tech Bubble 2.0" guy.
           \_ One thing about "Tech Bubble 2.0"; it may be.  But I own AMZN
              from Tech Bubble 1.0, and it's up 171%.  Good companies will
              provide good returns.  -tom
              \_ but there is a distinction between a good company and a
                 good stock. GOOG is beginning to act like IOMG. -daveh
                 \_ I see no parallel at all between Google and Iomega.
                    What are you comparing?  -tom
        \_ http://www.csua.org/u/jvi (Seeking Alpha)
           GOOG now fifth largest company by market cap. But it would have
           to be $1500/share to be larger than XOM... Go GOOG Go!