Rational or Emotional Take 2

After having some time to cool off and 'rationalize' how I had responded to the day's events, and to my previous post, I stand by my decisions but question the rationality, or rather the raw emotion, behind it. While I stand behind my final rational reasons for what I did, I would have to say that emotions affected the decision more than I thought they did originally.

When convincing myself I was rationalizing, I looked at a few select sentences in the news that told me what I wanted to hear. My emotions blinded me from seeing everything and as a result I limited the rationality we all need behind our decisions. For instance, the news said all shareholders on record as of March 11, 2009, by 7PM would receive the special dividend on March 12. As I went back and looked at the TWC website (the true soure of info pertaining to TWC), I found what the news should have said. To take part in the special dividend, one has to buy shares before March 9, 2009. They would then be recorded on March 11 to receive the dividend on March 12. While I was correct in my rational thinking that I would receive said dividends and that I should have set a stop limit beforehand, I was wrong by just accepting the first thing I read. If you really want to back up your decisions, you have to go to the source. I thought my decision was rational as most of it was, but my emotions clouded my judgement as I didn't check behind myself. I should add on to the previous questionaire (end of previous post) to always doublecheck the facts to make sure everything is how its supposed to be, not how you want it to be.

Some call investing a game, some call it gambling. I think it is a little bit of both. You can do as much homework as you want and be as rational as you want but the outcome isn't always what you may think it should be. The house can be compared to Wall Street. Things always seem to work out for the guys running the show. But in no way should you ever quit playing. That one good call you made will keep you coming back for more. Just remember that because something worked once doesn't mean it will work again. The more I keep playing, the more I learn and the more rational I become. Reading books and taking classes for this stuff will only teach you so much, and even some of that doesn't even apply to playing the game in real life. Experience is the only way to win. Don't get me wrong. You still need to do homework and evaluate the company. In the end, everyone will play. Only those who picked apart their failures and turned off their emotions will come out ahead. Only those will make cash money.