Selling Stocks To Cut Losses"It's a dangerous fallacy to assume that because a stock goes down, it has to come back up. Many don't, and some take years to recover."
— William J. O'Neil, Chairman & Founder of Investor's Business Daily - Investors.com
Having a rule-based selling strategy will help you decide when to sell a stock at the most opportune time.
Know When To Fold 'Em
Nobody's right all the time in the market, not even veteran market professionals. But as the famous investor Bernard Baruch once said, "Even being right three or four times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if they have the sense to cut losses quickly."
Being a successful investor is just as much about limiting losses as it is about riding a winning stock. Downturns are a part of life in the market, and you must act decisively to shield yourself from excessive losses. If your stock selection doesn't work out and you're faced with a loss, don't let your pride stop you from admitting you've made a mistake and acting quickly. Cut your losses early and move on. You must make rational decisions, instead of trying to rationalize your way out of a costly mistake.
It's not just your own personal opinions that can be wrong. Analysts or market commentators can be just as erroneous, and basing your decisions on their opinions can often lead to disastrous results. Investors often buy loser stocks, justifying their decision with remarks like, "All these Wall Street analysts are saying great things about this company," or "This technology is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The market doesn't realize it yet, but it's bound to become a household item." Famous last words.
Cut Your Losses Early
The first rule is sell any stock that falls 8% below your purchase price. Why 8%? Because research shows stocks showing all the right fundamental and technical factors in place and bought at precisely the proper buy point (which is explained fully in the "Using Stock Charts To Round Out Stock Selection" lesson of the stock buying course) rarely will retreat 8%. If they do, there's something wrong with them.
You may think a stock is due to rebound. But the market could send the stock to lower depths regardless of your views or what analysts and commentators say on TV. No excuses, no alibis. You may want to sell even before an 8% loss if you see other signs of weakness in a stock (we'll explain these throughout this course).
This rule emphasizes the importance of buying at the right time. If you don't and you buy a stock that is overextended (that's reaching the end of its climb), chances are it will hit the 8% sell level as it goes through a normal pullback. Make no exceptions to the rule. The best stocks will always give you other opportunities to buy. Here's another way to look at it: Once a stock falls 8% below your cost, does it still look attractive? Is it still among the best stocks? Probably not. There's no guarantee that it will go back up, and you need to protect yourself.
The bigger the fall, the harder it is to recover. Say you bought a stock at $100 a share. It falls 20%, to $80. To get back to $100, the stock has to make a 25% gain. Another example: The stock plummets 50%, to $50 a share. It would take a 100% jump to get it back to $100 — and how often do you buy a stock that doubles? And if it does, how many weeks, months or even years does it take to get there? Wouldn't you rather cut your loss early, and free up money to purchase another stock with better chances of doubling?
Of course, it could happen that you sell a stock that falls 8%, and then watch it go up afterward. But you have to think of the 8% sell rule as your insurance policy against catastrophic losses. The rule will in effect limit any losses on your portfolio to no worse than 8%.
Nevertheless, if you've bought a fundamentally sound stock at the right point, (explained in the stock buying lessons) it will rarely plunge 8% immediately. Buying exactly right will solve half your selling questions.
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