I have done portfolio updates in the past. However, this time it’s a bit more exciting as this is my first real portfolio update - meaning real money. Sure, it’s a miniscule amount, but it’s thrilling to see my actual cash move up and down every second.

So how has my first three week as a real investor gone? Great. Not because I’ve made boatloads of money (I’m actually down 1.7% at the moment), but because I’ve already learned lessons that no amount of time with a paper portfolio would have taught me.

The two best lessons so far are never act impulsively with stocks and let common sense win over emotions before trading. The first lesson came to a head yesterday when two stocks that I somewhat regretted buying (Cameco and Loopnet) were both down for the third of fourth day in a row. When I checked in the morning, they were both down nearly 4%. In my disgust I almost logged into my brokerage account and sold them right there.

Instead, I reminded myself of the fact that they are both fundamentally good stocks, which is one of the most important aspects to investing in growth stocks. Therefore, I should only sell them if either their fundamentals change, or they drop past the 20% stop limit I enforce on all my stocks. I’m glad I made this decision, as by the end of the day both stocks were instead up nearly 4%!

I learned my second lesson two weeks ago when I purchased Gamestop. I had meant to purchase the stock June 14th, near the end of the trading day. Unfortunately, I got caught up in work and wasn’t able to. When the stock opened the next morning, it opened up nearly 6%. In my anger I purchased the stock anyway, in a way punishing myself for not buying it the night before and losing out on those gains. However, this was a great lesson in that I should have used common sense to not buy the stock right after a huge gain, especially when it was already well above its average.

Anyway, you can see my stocks below. I had bad timing buying Cameco, and might have made a mistake buying Crocs. I also slightly regret purchasing Loopnet without knowing more about the company first. However, I feel confident about my shares in Apple, BE Aerospace, and Gamestop.