I paid myself about $7,600 to panic-sell Intel and then buy it back higher. Same shares.
I still feel a little sick about this one.
Intel was my highest-conviction pick. The only American company that still makes its own chips, the last one standing anywhere near TSMC. I actually believed in it.
Then earnings hit, worst day in the company’s history, and I watched it bleed from $31 toward $20 while every headline called it dead. I couldn’t take it. I sold near $21 and told myself I was being smart, cutting my losses.
Then it turned. Past $50, into the triple digits, doing exactly what I’d bought it for. I sat there and watched until I couldn’t stand it, and bought the same shares back near $100.
Sold low because I was scared. Bought back high because I couldn’t stand missing it. That round trip cost me about $7,600. I was never wrong about the company. I was wrong about me.
And the worst part is it shows up nowhere. No red number, no line item. It just quietly becomes the price of getting back in, and you never learn.
Tell me I’m not the only one. Do you actually manage to sit still through a scary quarter? And has anyone found something that genuinely stops them, something stronger than just telling yourself to be disciplined?