Wind River Systems (WIND)

Company. "the worldwide leader in embedded software and services.... Wind River's products and professional services are used in multiple markets including aerospace and defense, automotive, digital consumer, industrial, and network infrastructure." (company website)

Wind River recently gave themselves a public relations boost by publicizing their involvement with NASA's Spirit rover on Mars.

Buy. What was I thinking?!?!

Well, I know what I was thinking, flawed though it was. I was thinking that WIND had risen smartly from just over $5 to about $8, and then pulled back to close at $6.75 on heavy volume. What I thought was that that day of selling took care of it — anybody who wanted to sell probably sold.

For about a week it looked as if my analysis was right. Then the other shoe dropped. Three more days of heavy selling brought the price all the way down to $5.50. I took heart when the price climbed to $7 again, but was soon disappointed again.

In mid-December it began to look as if WIND was really recovering. There was a nice gap up on very heavy volume — that was tested by a day of selling but not reversed.

When the price got to $8 I bought a few odd lots of extra shares using proceeds from the sale of DPII.

Sell. I decided to sell today when WIND opened a bit higher but then drifted lower, undoing yesterday's gains. The previous week had also ended with a down day, and WIND hasn't done much this week, hanging just over $9. WIND is up 50% since mid-December, and it seems ripe for a "correction."

If WIND goes up again next week, well then, I will have been wrong. If it goes down again, well then, I will have another buying opportunity if the chart still looks promising.

Meanwhile, I'm smiling all the way to the bank.