Replies to post #336 on Investor Help (NO Ihub questions)

[EvilTweety]

that I know I will miss out a great deal by selling too soon. "

And that little greedy devil sitting on your shoulder and whispering in your ear will ultimately make the learning process very expensive...........

[IRISHBULL]

GWJ: Good question. I been trading full time for 5 years now. What kept me in business is I always take profit. You ain't making any money unless your selling stock. When I see a decent profit I will take 30%-50% off the table and lock in profits. Even if I think the stock is going to the moon, I don't care, I lock in profits. What this does is a few things. One, I took profits which is money in the bank, two I create a nice cushion for myself and feel much more relaxed on the dips. Takes alot of stress out of the trade. Its a win win situation. If the stock goes higher, great!!! I still own a chunk. If the stock goes down, thats OK, I took profit. I will play it by ear. If the stock looks weak and is getting close to my original buy I will sell the rest at a smaller profit and be happy. If the stock continues north I will take more profit. ie: I had a million shares. I sold 400K and took profit when it was up/ It continues up. I might sell 200k. If it continues, maybe sell another 200k and so on. YOU CAN'T LOSE if you take profit. SO SO many times traders buy a stock and see a nice profit but don't sell.. (greed) then it goes down and they still don't sell..(hope) then the stock goes below their buy. They are so mad they refuse to sell,they hope it will recover. before you know it, they are at a huge loss. Its a vicious cycle. I watched trades get wiped out over the years because of 2 main factors. 1> NEVER took "SOME" profit on the way up. 2) Could not take a 10% loss. One of the hardest think to do in trading is take a loss. As dumb as this sound, the second hardest thing to do is take profit lol I know, sounds silly but is very true. Because, when a trader gets a good runner, they are hoping this will be the big one they have been waiting for.. They are SCARED to sell because they think it will go up much higher and they will miss the big one. The same with taking a small loss. They are scared that when they sell, the stock will run and they will mis the run.(guess what, if you sell, you can always buy back in) How do I know this?? I LIVED THIS!! LOL It kills you as a trader. I knew if I was going to last in this game I had to have some simple disciplined. These were the 2 I TRY to stand by. I fall off the wagon ones in a while, buy for the most part I follow these rules..

Hope this helps.

[MrSparex]

"When to sell?"
Sell when most are buying.
Sell when you wouldn't want to buy it.
Sell when the chart looks "top heavy".
Sell when it hits your "stop loss".
Sell when all the message boarders are screaming "BUY".
Sell when you get a margin call.
Sell when selling gives you peace of mind.
Sell before they release earnings.
Sell when it spikes on good news.
Sell when all the bashers have totally disappeared.
Sell when it starts back down (not while it's going up).
Sell when your trading plan calls for you to sell.

[rocky822]

Here's a board I've found helpful.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=6743

[manysevens]

On when to sell ... Irish makes a good point (the best point actually), that is to take profits no matter what. I experiment with different methods depending on the volatility of the stock. Use GTC's. Immediately after buying a stock I might place a GTC to sell 80% at 20% gain, or 70% at 40% gain, or 50% at 100% gain, etc. Stay diversified (buy good stocks and ride the dips), preserve your capital, and collect free positions.

I've also been known to go ALL IN into one momo stock and sell for a quick 10 or 20% ... not reccommended for most, but is quite beautiful when it works. Most people struggle all year to show those returns. Given the right opportunity it can be done in about an hour, or less. lol