Alas, I had to sell within the sales season.

 

Lots of stocks are on sale. Well, they are all for sale (and the difference between “for sale” and “on sale” is a wonderful example of why English can be hard to learn), but in particular, lots of stock prices have been dramatically reduced. So why sell? Because part of living is paying bills, and there are always bills.

 

In an ideal world, every stock sale would be at a peak. In the real world, stocks go up and down, and bills will inevitably show up in the valleys. Welcome to the Grand Canyon. And welcome to my mortgage and credit card payment.

 

So there goes a sale that was emotionally tough. I’d rather buy than sell, but being a responsible person means occasionally doing what is necessary instead of what is desired. Seller’s remorse part one.

 

And lo and behold, in the days after I sell, the stock goes up 10%. Ouch. Seller’s remorse part two.

 

But in life there is balance.

 

The stock I sold was FFIV. I like the stock, but it was the best candidate to pay the bills. Other stocks have gone up 30% in the time FFIV went up 10%. And as I look back at that position’s performance, I realize that those shares were purchased in June of 2001. Remember that valley in the market? The dotcom bust was agonizing. Yet, I bought and sold at the time. Those shares of FFIV rose 16.5% annually. I held those shares for over seven years.

 

It is funny to watch my own performance strategy laid before me in such inarguable fashion. Buy good companies at depressed prices. Hold them for the long term. Ignore much of the market chaos. Get on with living.

 

The CEO of FFIV made a marvelous comment back at one of those early stockholders meetings. I’ll paraphrase. At the height of the bubble, the stock prices were unrealistic based on any conventional business or investment criteria. At the bottom of the bust, the same could be said.

 

That message has stayed with me whenever I consider the market. Yesterday I described my portfolio to a long-time friend. While telling him about my stocks I realized that the companies behind them were solid. Their long-term potential was as strong as ever, and in some cases had improved because their less-healthy competitors were less likely to survive. The stock prices are atrociously low for holders, but wonderful for buyers. And the future is amazing.

 

Seven years from now we might be in a bust again. There’s no way to know. But I won’t be surprised to find that I’ll be selling some stock I’ve grown emotionally attached to so I can pay some bills. Then I’ll remember that when I bought it and others, friends may have thought the idea was silly, scary, or overly-optimistic. And the stock will have done its work and I can continue living the life I love.

 

But really, if I’d only held out for another week I could’ve bought a brand new computer (which I type as the battery on my laptop recovers from an age-related failure).