Thirteen days ago, on March 5, I made a post about selling Linn Energy (LINE) at $32.00 for a small loss because of a technical breakdown I observed in the chart. The gist of my reasoning at the can be seen here in this chart of LINE I posted on March 5:

As it turns out so far, my fears about LINE were justified. Take a look at an updated chart:

When a major technical breakout (or breakdown in this case) occurs with a stock, the momentum selling or buying can come fast and furious. Because I was observant of the chart, I was able to recognize this breakdown in the early stages and take a loss of only about 3% on LINE. If I hadn’t been so diligent in my chart-watching and had missed this breakdown in the early stages, I would be sitting here less than two weeks later down over 11%!

I know that life can get hectic sometimes, but if you expect to make money in the stock market, you can’t fall asleep at the wheel. There are a lot of traders that never take a day off, and if you expect to beat them at their own game, you must find some time to devote to the market each and every day. If you don’t, you’ll quickly learn your lesson the hard way.

Want to know what exactly you should be checking with your stocks on a daily basis? My book,  Beating Wall Street with Common Sense: How I Achieved a 400% Return from my Dorm Room, is coming soon! Stay tuned!