Titan International

TWI

Company. Titan International is "a leading global supplier of complete tire and wheel assemblies for off-highway vehicles ... [including] agriculture, consumer, earthmoving/construction, and military applications." (company website)

Buy. When I bought Titan at the end of May it had been climbing steadily for six weeks, having broken out of the $6 range in mid-April. I was a little dubious about buying TWI because it had already been climbing so long. On the other hand, it was not very volatile intraday: baby steps, no giant swings and gaps. For insurance, I put on a trailing stop to sell if the price dropped 8% from its high.

Sell. When the price dropped yesterday, I did not get alarmed. It did drop once a month ago but recovered immediately. ("Past performance is no guarantee..." yadda, yadda, yadda.)

Although I can't find it, there must have been some news today, because the price dropped sharply as soon as the market opened. My stop triggered the sell order and saved me from a bigger loss. Now that it has dropped on two days of heavier than average volume, I expect it to correct back to near the 50-day moving average, if not below.

If not for the stop, it could have been a Titanic loss.