- Benjamin Graham

Knowing when to sell is perhaps the hardest part about this business. The “rightness” of the decision should have nothing to do with subsequent market action. Mr. Market will go along his merry way without you after you sell. The only guy who buys the bottom and sells the top is a liar.

Wasn’t it one of the Rothschilds who, when asked the secret of his success, replied, “I always sold too soon!”?

Or perhaps you prefer the advice of George Soros…. “It takes guts to be a pig.”

The big reason for being undervalued previously had a lot to do with their carriage contracts with GE/NBC unwilling to invest in the business. Comcast will surely be different as their interests are aligned.

I failed with this investment towards the end based on a lot of behavioral mistakes. I got too attached, I was not realistic and rather than constantly re-evaluating an investment when business impacting news was released, I kept my target price the same and eventually sold out due to emotions.
Jae Jun´s last blog ..2010 Value Stock Screen Performances

I agree on buying back. You should look at it in isolation from a previous position. I.e The fact you bought a stock previously for 0.25 or 0.50 cents should not have an impact on what your assessment of what the current value is and if the current price offers the required discount to intrinsic value then by all means take advantage of it. I vaguely remember Peter Lynch discussing this exact topic in One up on Wall St.

However by your statement, I feel that you are saying you sold the companies far below their intrinsic value? From my perspective both IGOI’s and VVTV’s future cash flows are not well protected by a strong moat and contingent on a lot of things going right. Both face serious competition from companies with stronger moats and much more capital. This means IMO the MOS should be adjusted accordingly to reflect these risks. It sounds like you are saying even at higher prices you think the MOS was sufficient? Or are you referring to when the prices retracted to a lower level? For instance with VVTV when it went from $5 back down to $1.50?

On that note though, I am constantly re-evaluating my thought models and trying to understand what things I can do better in the future. Definitely a topic I would like to discuss to more.

I sold too early and I couldn’t admit it.
One of the reasons to sell a stock is by making a mistake with the analysis. By we rarely hear the opposite. I made a mistake with my selling and should have actually bought back.

This realization wasn’t based on the stock price, although Im kicking myself, but the fact that the buyer of my shares knew more than I did.

I have a whole lot more reasons for why I made a mistake to sell both VVTV and IGOI, but the main takeaway is that if I made a mistake selling, I shouldn’t be scared to buy again.
Jae Jun´s last blog ..2010 Value Stock Screen Performances

Betty & Greg (Control your Cash)
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