RE: How can I overcome my fear of the marketPull1, first you have to define yourself. Are you a day trader or an investor? If you are a day trader, then 15 cents may be ok, just like LouE this morning when he shorted the stock and was happy with his 10 cents. But if you are a long term investor, you have to do your due diligence by researching a stock in its entirety. First you have to look at the sector followed by stocks within that sector and compare their financials. If all things look good, then you have to look at market indicators and price history of that stock. If for example it has had a real run up, chances are it could be due for a correction and you don't want to get in that time. If it the sector and the stock has had a correction to the downside, then it may be time to get in. Also, look at seasonality and the time of year you are investing. Sell in May and go away is pretty much tried and true. If we have a run up in UUU, lock in some of your profit and wait for a dip before jumping back in.
Regarding Equinox, retail investors do not have information on upcoming acquisition or mergers, only insiders are privy to that type of information. If you stick with a junior or an medium sized company with good fundamentals, then you could luck out, just as the chinese made a bid for equinox. Armz took over UUU last year. No one could say that they were take over targets. So you really can't worry about a loss that really wasn't, its only a loss when you end up losing money by selling under your your buy price. You made money, so "don't worry be happy".
You know PULL1, you can't treat the stock market as Macdonolds Drive through where you become an instant millionaire. You said you were 80 years old, I don't know what your health is like. If you were in midlife, I would say invest in some of the more speculative stocks, within reason of course...but at your age, why would you take such a high risk? You should be investing in some of the Large caps in sectors which are good dividend payers and can usually give you a good increase on the SP as well.
Just MHO.
Good luck,
Dr.Crapper is a C o c k sucker! Not an opinion....LOL