Too Big to Fail

In class today, we watched the movie Too Big to Fail, and it took me back to the early days of the 'Dogs' account and how it mirrored so much of what was going on in the days of the Big Bank Bailout and ensuing stock market bottoming.  The account was only a few months old at that time.  I was thinking the market was coming up from the post-2000 techno-bubble, and would continue, so I didn't go a full 50% cash as I should have to begin with, then when the stocks dropped, I was so thrilled that I would be able to invest in low-priced stocks that I did every time I got a signal, instead of playing by the rules and waiting until the end of the month, I went ahead and bought more.  Citigroup alone about broke me before stopping their dividend, causing me to exchange it for a healthier stock.  Out of greed, just like the banks, I bent the rules and ended up paying.  The other similarity was that I kept adding extra money to the account in the months that followed because I didn't then have the cash to invest when the stocks continued to go down.  A kind of privatized 'TARP' if you will.
The lesson to learn here - if you have a good system, stick with the rules.  No guarantee it will always save your butt, but it will usually at least make things a lot better.  I'd have a lot higher balance in my account right now if I had.  Fortunately, I learned to follow my rules early enough to make it so I have as good of a balance as I do.