SPH's lesson learnt - Exit trade without looking at the chart

Last Friday SPH closed at $3.70 and I started to regret that I exit the trade too early. I bought SPH at about $3.05 and sold all at $3.48. I should have hold the stocks for a longer period.

My mistakes from this trade:

• I let my emotion to take charge of my decision. I had worries that STI would soon be corrected and turned bearish in Sept. I can't control my fear and decide to off load my positions.
• I did not look at the chart before making my decision to sell. I would not have sold my SPH shares if I plot the chart earlier. The stock price was moving inside the channel and on the up trend. I should have sold the shares when the price hit the upper channel resistance instead of sold at the dip!

• SPH is a defensive stock with low beta which response slower to the STI correction. In addition, investors will switch to defensive stocks when there is a market correction.

Fortunately I did not lose money in this trade but this was a really good lesson for me to perfect my entry and exit timing in future.