In the First Quarter, Timing Was Everything: WINTER OF UPS AND DOWNS
When you're a shortterm investor, surfing the fickle waves of the stock market, knowing when to bail out before the Big Kahuna breaks is the skill that separates the awesome investor dudes from the Wall Street wussies.</br></br>Even investors who buy stocks for the long run can learn about the importance of picking the right time to sell by studying the scorecard of Washington InvestingÛªs winners and losers for the first quarter of this year.</br></br>Some of the worst losers in the last three months were huge winners last year, but many savvy investors, including some corporate insiders, got out at or near the top of the . ... wave; stock trading reports filed with, the Se-' curities and Exchange Commission show.</br></br>. ItÛªs not only individual stockholders but . the companies themselves that try to take advantage of a big run-up in their stock price by selling shares.</br></br>Take PSINet Inc., a Herndon Internet access company. PSINet is one of three local stocks that lost almost 60 percent of its value during the quarter. PSINet slid to $9.69 by the end of March from $22.88 the first of the year and closed Friday at $9.32.