"So I'm hoping this isn't going to happen again with #49, I'm hoping Herb is right, but I will be sure to take some off the table this time around."
Yes, we're all hoping Herb is right. But the prudent thing to do is to take some off the table, but the difficult thing to do is to figure at what level that should be, and what percentage of one's shares to sell. I suppose, to make it similar for everyone, since everyone has a different buying history, it should be some multiple of one's average price per share, and some fraction of one's total shares.
But calculationg that multiple and figuring the fraction are the trick (and then, of course, pulling the trigger when and if that multiple obtains - but that's discipline). I like to think if you sell about a third of your shares for 2 times your average cost, that's pretty prudent. That way you won't feel "used" if we run up, only to run back down. There are many, many ways to go, of course, but it's good to think about it, formulate a plan and stick to it. It maybe as easy as selling a portion after a 20% drop from, for example, the run we're on now. Of course, stop losses are not the way to go.
At any rate, it's fun to dream about hitting it really big, but hitting it really big doesn't usually happen, even when share prices act as strong as NOT's has recently. And if you hit big with 60 to 70% of your stock, and made most of your investment back on the other 30 or 40% already, you still will make one heck of a lot of money, and protect yourself in some part from the disappointment (emtional and financial) which is generally attendant to these plays. I don't wish that to be so, but it's the reality of the marketplace. You can analyze stocks till you drop, and often, something that never even crossed your mind is what does you in. So use this run to your advantage.
