We've all been there (I'm still there ;-)), there's a stock for a film you really want to see or you think is going to be successful, but it's not released for a few months (or years) and in the meantime its price is going down. You either need to take the long term view which means you will have periods where you lose money and will grow slower, or a more short term view where you limit how far ahead you are looking in terms of release date. You can still invest in stock that's moving or IPOs, but be clear with yourself when you are going to dump them and move on and don't keep holding a stock hoping it will turn the corner and start making money. In terms of port growth, it's better to have a few stocks that you think will gain 5-10% in a week or 2 and keep turning them over than having stocks that will gain 50% in a few months.