This is not bragging, this is a request for validation or constructive criticism.
I am not qualified to know what the optimal stop loss should be so I just hammered 5% over and over on everything in my portfolio.
Here was my thinking: I’ve got some great stocks that have done very well BUT there’s no shame in having a major defensive cash position when the VIX is over 25 and the price of oil may go and stay over $100 (thereby causing the value of the dollar to rise and any chance of a rate cut to be gone.) Also, I know an enormous amount of sulfur moves through the Hormuz but I just got up to speed on copper and uranium (after being forced to learn about gold and silver) and I’m tired. I don’t want to learn about sulfur impacts while I’m still figuring out oil and geopolitical impacts to shipping (shout out to BWET, my insane ETF holding.)
Anyway, I looked at ATR trailing stop losses which sound rational and intelligent and optimal but, if I understand them correctly, I have to adjust them every week. I don’t have time for that. This is a managed portfolio but it’s not my day job or my side hustle.
So, I’m in an unusual place. I don’t trust Trump’s claim that war is nearly over because Iran is not Venezuela. Iran is a regime, not a simple dictatorship. (That line sounds too AI but it works so I’m leaving it.) No LatAm Narco dictator is willing to die for anything. Every IRGC zealot is more than willing to die. Simple math.
So, I don’t want to get into the politics. If u wasn’t concerned about the war and price of oil, I might be concerned about China and global chip dependence on Taiwan. Or the environmental impact of rocket fuels. Or the potential for humanoid robots to be hacked. There are always good reasons to put a trailing stop loss under your stock holdings so I’m not interested in the “reasons” as much as the execution.
Anyone have strong feelings about TSL when so many stocks are within whisper distance of all time highs and there’s so much volatility potential out there?