Time to Fire my Head Trader: He Bought LNC

Basically, I told myself no more common stock buys until the VIX returns to at least the 30 level preferably to below 20 for at least 3 months.  I can not follow my own orders and maybe I am just bored. Or maybe I need to fire my Head Trader, who is really a teenage version of myself.  I read the the 11-20-08 report from Barclays on Lincoln National, and I was encouraged enough by it to buy another 30 shares at 6.45, averaging down my previous purchase from earlier this month.   Late Friday Buys: LNC and GXP  I said in that earlier November post that I would average down by buying 30 at 14 and 40 in the 10 to 12 range.  I just did the 30 at less than half of what I indicated earlier and may just round it off to a round lot of 100 by buying the other 40 at less than 5.  These kind of buys are tepid and could not even be characterized as baby steps.   Lincoln and other life insurance companies are seeking TARP funds. Yahoo! Finance All of the companies in this industry, particularly those heavy into variable annuities, have been smashed since the market entered into phase 2 of a nasty bear market after the Lehman failure. I recognize that all of these companies would be allowed to fail unlike Citigroup or AIG.  I just believe that the upside for LNC over the next decade from the current price is too large to ignore, which is why I made an exception for it today.  

   I am not a financial advisor but an individual investor trying to navigate my way through a mind field. In these posts, I am acting as an unpaid financial journalist and an occasional ornery political commentator.   I am also aggregating financial news stories that I view as important and providing any reader of these posts, assuming there are more than a couple, with links to those articles, sort of a filtered, somewhat intelligent, free search engine.  Any discussion made by me of particular securities  is not a recommendation to buy or to sell.  Trade at your own risk.  Consult with your financial advisor prior to making any purchase or sale. I will try to identify my sales too but it may take a few minutes after I implement them to create a post explaining my reasons.  The sale may before or after the post.  Before buying or selling any stock, even one recommended by a trusted financial advisor,  please research it and make up your own mind which is what I always try to do.  Research would include reading reports, reviewing financial records, earnings estimates, sec filings and prior earnings releases and news.  In this post, and all others by me, I am merely describing my reasons for purchasing  or selling securities, and the potential pitfalls that I identified prior to purchase or the reasons for a sale.  The securities mentioned in this and all posts written by me may not be suitable for others based on their unique financial position and risk profile.  Always read the prospectus before buying a Trust Certificate, bond, preferred stock or other bond or bond like investments.