Why Am I Selling $700,000 Worth of Individual Stocks?

For more than a decade, I’ve been a lucky stock picker. 

For the most part, I’ve avoided mistakes and I’ve operated like a dumpster diver, looking for the fresh loaves of bread that the bakery boy accidentally threw out.  I have bought—what I deemed to be—great businesses at fair, or cheap prices.

I’ve crushed the market indexes…crushed them.   And in case you’re thinking me boastful and find me thoroughly unlikable, let me tell you what I think:  I’ve been lucky…for a long time.

Even in March of 2009, when I decided to throw a tiny amount of money at AIG, it panned out and I gained 350%.  In dollar terms, I’ve profited more than $130,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock alone. 

It’s a profit that I’ll realize when the markets open tomorrow morning.

In 2010, I made 23%, beating the U.S. and world indexes thoroughly, despite having a healthy bond component.

But I haven’t been lucky for a long time, in stock market terms.  A decade is a blip.  It means nothing.  So I’m selling all of my individual stocks, amounting to more than $700,000 worth. It’s a non taxable account.

Below, you can see my pending sell orders. 

Only two of these stocks will be sold at levels close to my purchase prices:  Microsoft, which has gained roughly 8% since my purchase, and The Royal Bank of Canada, which currently sells at a price similar to what I paid. 

The rest of them are up….a lot.  Even my Pfizer shares are up roughly 35%, including dividends.

But why am I selling?  I’ll give you a hint:

I also placed $700,000 worth of purchase orders today.

 What do you think I did, and why did I do it?