The Palantir of tradingA Palantir, if you did not know, is otherwise known as a crystal ball; a seeing stone. It was what Saruman used in Lord of the Rings to "see" and that ultimately led to his corruption by Sauron. I've seen this stock corrupt the career of aspiring traders...
I was asked my advice on Palantir NASDAQ:PLTR . I don't like to give "advice" on what for other traders to do... but I will say what I have done, what I am doing, and tell you a story that hopefully help traders be better.
I bought PLTR at an average price of about $9/share. Great! Not really, it was July 2022, and I bagheld all the way down to $6: a -33% unrealized loss over about a year of time. But what I had done was only purchased 200 shares. My position was relatively small; it didn't bother me. I slept just fine.
I was encouraged to buy PLTR by a good trading buddy. We would talk and trade every day for years since the pandemic. He was super bullish on this stock and I really bought it and held it in solidarity with my friend.
Then in May 2023 the stock finally took off. I had my shares and my friend traded PLTR options. However, they were short duration options. In the May - August rally he multiplied his account many times. More money than he had ever had in his young life. Things were going great. He was finally RIGHT! But then...
The stock stopped moving. Unfortunately, my friend had taken his success and tried to repeat it. Options need movement. PLTR did not move enough. He lost it all. He left our group and quit trading altogether...
...just before the August 2024 rally.
If you like the company, OWN THE SHARES
Since the pandemic I have tried my best to educate traders that the short term, gambler's mentality inherent in options is a path to disaster for the vast majority of traders. Patience. It's hard but it pays.
I still have my shares. They are up big. They are pulling back, sure. But I don't care. I was small, I have a very low buy price, and I can just wait.
Now that PLTR has moved though... inevitably people want it. Since the start of the year I've been asked repeatedly about buying it. What I tell people is that any tech or volatile stock like this WILL have AT LEAST a -50% (usually more) pullback. Be patient. I do not get interested until that happens. Even then it still may get even cheaper.
Be patient.
Trade wisely.
