08-04-2019, 06:33 PM
The following is a heavy dose of my opinion as always. I have 27 individual stocks at the moment. I think about 30 is sufficient if you have a few index funds to go with it which I do. I sell covered calls against most of my positions, most of the time. Many expire every month so I have plenty to do.
I've heard people say about 10 stocks is enough to diversify. I think that is bunk. What if you did that a few years ago and selected T, MO, MMM, CVS and FDX in that small port? Those would hardly have been considered risky stocks, but you just under-performed the S&P 500 badly.
At 50 stocks you are just an index fund IMO. As long as you consistently get a total return that meets or exceeds the 500, then knock yourself out if you get some enjoyment out of it. If your results trail the 500, then your stock buying habit is costing you a lot of money over time.
Personally, my stock picking hasn't been all that awesome the past year because I bottom fish like many others here do. My conservative option selling monthly income has been crazy good and I am beating the index in total return by a margin, and it's less volatile for sure. When that stops working for me, I promise myself I will try to be objective enough to adjust my course gradually. When I buy or sell I try hard to live by the following rule. "Never do today what you wish you had done yesterday, last week or last month". I firmly believe that because in the past I learned it the hard way, repeatedly.
I've heard people say about 10 stocks is enough to diversify. I think that is bunk. What if you did that a few years ago and selected T, MO, MMM, CVS and FDX in that small port? Those would hardly have been considered risky stocks, but you just under-performed the S&P 500 badly.
At 50 stocks you are just an index fund IMO. As long as you consistently get a total return that meets or exceeds the 500, then knock yourself out if you get some enjoyment out of it. If your results trail the 500, then your stock buying habit is costing you a lot of money over time.
Personally, my stock picking hasn't been all that awesome the past year because I bottom fish like many others here do. My conservative option selling monthly income has been crazy good and I am beating the index in total return by a margin, and it's less volatile for sure. When that stops working for me, I promise myself I will try to be objective enough to adjust my course gradually. When I buy or sell I try hard to live by the following rule. "Never do today what you wish you had done yesterday, last week or last month". I firmly believe that because in the past I learned it the hard way, repeatedly.