Almost lost my shirt yesterday as I got taken away by the gainers and forgot to follow my own self-set rules. After gaining 3% after a week's worth of trading; yesterday I went down to a -1%. It was shocking and depressing. I bought some high gainers only to have lost it and more at the end of the day. Today I sold all that remained at a negative percent gain.
As a rule, I try not to buy those instant gainers. These are mostly trendy stocks whose gain isn't based on solid financials. More often than not, these are the ones that make you loose your shirt at a moment's notice. I instead buy high to moderate gainers who have a history of stable growth potential.
I'm new at this, but so far I have learned alot.