When should I sell stocks?

[jorden]

It is a good question while everybody is talking about how to buy the stocks but nobody specifies when to sell it. Only Warren Buffet can always buy stocks and never sell them, while other investors are most of the time forced to do that. Before deciding to sell a stock you should look at few indicators: Is the stocks overvalued or undervalued? Do you know any better stocks to invest? Are you sure that bear market is coming?

 

[netstock]

Another indicator is the volume for a certain stock. When market starts to move you can choose to follow or go against the general opinion. You can offcourse also take positions in options. Another way is to let the return variance guide you and your portfolio with a tool like

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or maby a tool like

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One thing is for sure, you must be consistent in your investing - make an investment plan and stick to it.

 

[Postworker25]

The general rule is to sell stocks when they have reached the highest value, because this will bring you maximum profits. On the another side you should sell stocks before the value of them is crashing down.

 

[harkkam]

Depends on how long you're holding the stock for, if its intra day it can depend on technical matters

 

[preet72787]

Technical analysis is important before investing money in stocks.

 

[freddieforex]

It is a good question while everybody is talking about how to buy the stocks but nobody specifies when to sell it. Only Warren Buffet can always buy stocks and never sell them, while other investors are most of the time forced to do that. Before deciding to sell a stock you should look at few indicators: Is the stocks overvalued or undervalued? Do you know any better stocks to invest? Are you sure that bear market is coming?

Warren does sell stocks, but only holds on to his own stocks. Traders that want to know what stocks to buy, sell or hold on to should watch the tv show, Mad Money. The stocks I made money trading were low caps that roll up and down in a frequent cycle.

 

[James83]

I think many peoples are earning in the currents market because there is a great fluctuation in the market.But mostly of them are not earning any more profit because they don't have much information about the current market fluctuation.So i think you find any good broker that will help you in selling the stock.And i think you don't understand that its bearish or bullish because there is no proper variation in the market.

 

[Murphy12]

I think you should consult good stock broker in this consult. Broker can only suggest you right to sell your stock here all will give you vary answer. Consult a good and relevant broker and sell your stock as per broker suggestions.

 

[trucomallica]

If you're buying growth stocks (good earnings and sales) I recommend you to read the books written by Morales and Kacher, both are available in this forum. Also, you should sell some of your position ahead of earnings.

 

[Dan_Khoo]

I use basic technical analysis ie. support/resistance to determine my entry and exit apart from the fundamental analysis.

 

[nizamshahii]

One method is to sell when the third and final "distribution phase" has started. This occurs when the insiders and informed circles have started to dump their stock at the higher levels, after the "accumulation" and "markup" phases.

 

[nizamshahii]

Distribution phase can be detected using candlestick analysis. Typically, some "inside days" may occur, or a hammer or doji candlestick.

 

[nizamshahii]

Trend followers will often sell when the price falls below a longer term moving average. Many funds sell on the 200 day moving average being cracked.

 

[freddieforex]

Rolling Stocks is an excellent way to trade stocks. Also follow Jim Cramer's advice. Trust me, I've been there my friends.

 

[quick1]

Sell your stock when others start to sell heavy, or when technical analysis shows sell siginal

 

[dandamannyc]

I sell when the spot price is 10% less than what I paid.

 

[Benji871]

If in profit I would sell on the way down. I never catch the top but I would also keep in the market as it is going up. As for my purchase level I would set a stop in advance and use that as the MAXIMUM stop loss level (may sell before it hits that) so that one bad trade does not ruin your account. The stop level (when purchased) would also be enjoined with Money Management of the account).

 

[Yuval Arbel]

actually, you can always adapt Warren's method. just b patient.

 

[pritz786]

For me if the stock gets too expensive (YTD returns are well above the competitors returns) and If I myself would never buy the stock at the current price. I would sell 50% and look at the performance for a week. If it has hit a resistance, I will sell all

 

[babyfry]

What is this 'basic technical analysis' you use to determine entry/exit prices? Is it just support and resistances?
I'm looking to learn more, does anyone have a good book to recommend?

 

[davidsk2001]

As others have mentioned here, I look at support and resistance levels on the chart and keep them in mind for exit strategies. There are plenty of books that cover this subject pretty well. My approach involves Wyckoff-style chart reading and I keep a trailing stop that I adjust as I believe the stock's trend is approaching a turning point. For example, if I'm long in a stock and I see a change of behavior occurring in the uptrend, I'll tighten the stops much more closely then I would if I didn't see any roadblocks ahead of the trend.

 

[davidsk2001]

As far as books go, I'd start with Wyckoff's original writing Method of Trading and Investing in Stocks. After that, if you are further interested in this approach there is a whole lot of Wyckoff material here on this site. David Weis who is a modern expert in Wyckoff trading just recently came out with a pretty good book called Trades about to Happen which can also be found here.

 

[mouahab]

I second the thought of using technical analysis on top of some good fundamentals to time a good exit