Why I made no changes this week

Just a short blog to let you know that I've reviewed both the Barchart Van Meerten New High and the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolios this morning and decided not to make any changes.  I use a different criteria when we are in a choppy market like we were this past week.  Here are the signals I look for to spot trouble in any of my present holdings:

• Does any stock have a worse Barchart sell rating than the Value Line Index?  When I set up my portfolios is always put in an extra symbol of the Value Line Index ($VLA) so that I immediately know where any stock stands in relationship to the market
• Has any stock had a loss that exceeds 10% since I bought it?  That's my tolerance for pain.
• Is there any news relating to either revenues, earnings or legal issues that might effect the collective assumptions that the market will make upon my stock

There are many, many criteria that at any time may make holding a stock a bad decision but I like to keep things simple.  If I use these 3 simple tests I can monitor my portfolios quickly and efficiently and spot trouble while there is still an opportunity to limit my loses.