Looking Back at 2011 Decisions

I was just reviewing my transactions in 2011 and early 2012, and reminiscing about mistakes, missed opportunities, well timed transactions, and such. Fortunately, hindsight is 20/20, so here are some good, bad, and unmade decisions from the past year


Bank of Nova Scotia

- I bought 35 shares above 57 in late April. turns out this was near the top of last year's range. I probably got a bit overzealous on this one
- I bought another 40 shares in mid August at 50. this turned out to be a pretty decent purchase, as the stock has moved up since then. I could have gotten it at a better price a few months later (48), but 50 is not bad.
- Grade: C




Intel
- I made 3 purchases of Intel between late March and late June at an average price of around 21. Looking back, given I was able to build a full position in Intel, this was my best decision of 2011. The stock is up around 27 now, for a nice gain of 30%.
- My initial position was built thru 2009 and 2010 in the low 19s
- Grade: A


Abbott Laboratories
- I purchased Abbott in 2 waves in late January and early March at an average price of 47. This investment worked out pretty well as well, up 21%, but I didnt get to build the full position.
- The ironic part was the company announced it was going to split into 2, effectively negating the diversified nature of the business, and forcing me to freeze from adding to it anyway... :(
- Grade: B



J. P. Morgan Chase
- Both a hit and miss. Initially bought some shares around 40 in mid July. That turned out to be not so good.
- My next purchase i doubled down at 29 during the depths of the Eurozone debt crisis. This turned out to be the single biggest gain for me in early 2012, currently up 43%, and 24% overeall
- Grade: A



Lockheed Martin
- the one that got away... I wanted to buy this in the fall, when it was high 60s/low 70s, but didnt pull the trigger. It's now up about 25% from those levels. =(
- Grade: F




In the future I will aim to do these reviews every half a year. They really help figure out where to improve and which ideas work more often! I suggest aspiring investors to all do a self-review at least once a year.