Giant Industries (GI)

Company. "Giant Industries, Inc., headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Giant owns and operates one Virginia and two New Mexico crude oil refineries, a crude oil gathering pipeline system based in Farmington, New Mexico, which services the New Mexico refineries, finished products distribution terminals in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona, a fleet of crude oil and finished product truck transports, and a chain of retail service station/convenience stores in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona." (company website)

Buy. Giant had been trading for some time in a tight range between $5.57 and $5.85 when it broke decisively above $6 in mid-August. I bought on the third day of extremely heavy volume.

Not unexpectedly, GI stock retreated back to $6.25 before once again climbing. For two consecutive days it has gone over $8 during the session, but has closed lower.

Sell. The market this week has been going through a "correction." That's what commentators say when prices fall. If they don't say "correction," they say "profit-taking." When OPEC announced yesterday that they were cutting their production quotas, the price of oil shot up. Presumably that is what is driving GI prices lower, assuming that the oil they refine and distribute will be more expensive, thereby reducing profits.

In view of the sour mood on Wall Street, I put in a stop-loss order to sell for $7.85, protecting a gain of $1.20 per share. Of course I hoped the order wouldn't trigger, but it did.

Historically, the market does poorly in September and October. I'm afraid this may be the usual drop in prices that occurs at the end of Q3. It seemed prudent to get cash out of any holdings that have accumulated nice profits. That way, if prices drop lower, I will have money to invest after the dip is over.