When To Sell A Stock: Cutting Losses Short Is The First Rule (2024)

How do you know when to sell a stock?

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You may think owning stocks is all about making money. True, you may be looking for capital appreciation, but if you lose more than you gain, it is all for naught. Top priorities should be to manage risk, preserve capital and take losses quickly.

When To Sell And Take A Loss

According to IBD founder William O'Neil's rule in "How to Make Money in Stocks," you should sell a stock when you are down 7% or 8% from your purchase price, no exceptions. Having a rule in place ahead of time can help prevent an emotional decision to hang on too long.

It should be: Sell now, ask questions later. By limiting losses to 7% or even less, you can avoid getting caught up in big market declines.

Some investors may feel they haven't lost money unless they sell their shares. They hold on with the hope it goes back up so they can break even. But it's still a loss if the current price is below your purchase price.

You may ask the rhetorical question: How low can it go? Actually, it can go to zero.

Ask yourself: Would I buy this stock, right here, right now? If the answer is no, sell it. The time you spend waiting and hoping it will come back, is an opportunity cost to deploy the capital elsewhere, O'Neil advised.

It Takes More To Come Back When You Sell A Stock Too Late

The more a stock falls, the more ground it has to recoup.

If you purchased a stock for 100 and it drops to 90, that's a 10 point drop representing a 10% loss. It looks like you have to make up 10 points to be back to even. But that same 10-point move now represents 11.1% of the now-90 stock. Therefore, you need to have an 11.1% gain, not just 10%.

If it drops further to 80, that 20 move equals a 25% gain you must achieve to get back to break even, and so on. The percentage decline accelerates as you lose more.

You can see how this can get ugly fast.The key is to stop the bleeding, cut your losses and move on.

Domino's Hits A Sell Signal

When To Sell A Stock: Cutting Losses Short Is The First Rule (1)Domino's Pizza (DPZ) broke out of a flat base Dec. 27, 2021 (1). Shares climbed only 3% above the 549.51 buy point before they started to roll over.

On Jan. 5, Stephens & Co. downgraded DPZ to underweight from equal-weight with a price target of $500, adding to the drop in the stock which started Jan. 3. The stock picked up downward momentum on Jan. 4 with a 28% spike in volume. It continued to drop, falling below the 50-day moving average. on Jan. 5.

It closed at 520.53 on Jan. 5, down 8.3% from the high (2). This was the time to sell. On Jan. 11, Domino's cited "unprecedented" expected increased food costs of 8%-10% in 2022. A few days later, Morgan Stanley downgraded Domino's from overweight to equal-weight, and cut its price target from 545 to 535.

It continued it's drop to a low of 321.15 on May 12, 2022 for a total decline of 43.4%, peak to trough. You could have avoided this massive decline, if you sold using the 8% sell rule.

You Don't Always Have To Be Right When You Sell A Stock

According to Bernard Baruch, a famous Wall Street investor, you only need three to four winning trades out of 10 to make a healthy overall return.

By following a 3-to-1 ratio of gainers to losers, if you have a 25% gain, you can allow up to an 8% loss, and no more. If in an unfavorable market and your winners are only up 10% to 15%, you need to cut losses sooner. This would amount to only 2%-3% down, to keep the ratio intact.

All this sounds good, but in practice it can be hard to admit you're wrong. Trading is an emotional activity filled with ego and the desire to be right. The key is to be steadfast and disciplined in following your rules so you can be around to trade another day.

This article was originally published April 20, 2023, and has been updated.

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When To Sell A Stock: Cutting Losses Short Is The First Rule (2024)

FAQs

When To Sell A Stock: Cutting Losses Short Is The First Rule? ›

It should be: Sell now, ask questions later. By limiting losses to 7% or even less, you can avoid getting caught up in big market declines. Some investors may feel they haven't lost money unless they sell their shares. They hold on with the hope it goes back up so they can break even.

What is the 3 5 7 rule in stocks? ›

The 3-5-7 rule is a simple approach to managing your trades. Here's how it works: as your trade gains value, you take profits at three different levels—3%, 5%, and 7%. This method helps you lock in profits gradually, instead of waiting and hoping for a bigger win that might never come.

What is the 7% stop loss rule? ›

This rule suggests that an investor should sell a stock if its price falls 7-8% below the purchase price. The main idea behind this rule is to limit potential losses and protect capital.

When should you sell a short stock? ›

Short sellers commonly look for opportunities during the following conditions: Bear Market: Traders who believe that “the trend is your friend” have a better chance of making profitable short-sale trades during an entrenched bear market than they would during a strong bull phase.

What is the 10 am rule in stock trading? ›

Traders that follow the 10 a.m. rule think a stock's price trajectory is relatively set for the day by the end of that half-hour. For example, if a stock closed at $40 the previous day, opened at $42 the next, and reached $43 by 10 a.m., this would indicate that the stock is likely to remain above $42 by market close.

What is the 70 20 10 rule in stocks? ›

Part one of the rule said that in the next 12 months, the return you got on a stock was 70% determined by what the U.S. stock market did, 20% was determined by how the industry group did and 10% was based on how undervalued and successful the individual company was.

What is the 70 30 rule in stocks? ›

What Is a 70/30 Portfolio? A 70/30 portfolio is an investment portfolio where 70% of investment capital is allocated to stocks and 30% to fixed-income securities, primarily bonds. Any portfolio can be broken down into different percentages this way, such as 80/20 or 60/40.

What is the golden rule for stop loss? ›

The golden rule of Stop Losses is that they should never be moved away from the market once the trade is opened. If a trader feels that their stop loss is incorrectly placed, they are recognising that the foundations of their trade are incorrect and therefore they should close out.

What is the 2% stop loss rule? ›

The 2% rule in investing suggests that you should never risk more than 2% of your capital on any single trade or investment. This approach helps manage risk by limiting potential losses and preserving capital for future opportunities.

What is the 6% stop loss rule? ›

The 6% stop-loss rule is another risk management strategy used in trading. It involves setting your stop-loss order at a level where, if the trade moves against you, you would only lose a maximum of 6% of your total trading capital on that particular trade.

What is short selling for dummies? ›

Short selling involves borrowing a security whose price you think is going to fall and then selling it on the open market. You then buy the same stock back later, hopefully for a lower price than you initially sold it for, return the borrowed stock to your broker, and pocket the difference.

What is the best time of day to sell stocks? ›

So just to quickly summarise:

If you're looking for the best time to either buy or sell a stock during the trading day it is; During the last 10-15 minutes before market close. Or about an hour after the market opens.

How do you know when to buy long or sell short? ›

The Bottom Line. Long and short positions relate to the position an investor or trader takes in the market. Being or going long means buying a stock with the intention of profiting from its rising value. On the other hand, being or going short means betting that you'll make money from the stock falling in value.

What is the 11am rule in the stock market? ›

The 11 am rule in trading refers to a guideline followed by some traders, particularly day traders, which suggests avoiding making significant trading decisions or entering new positions during the first hour of the trading day (9:30 am to 10:30 am EST) and waiting until around 11 am EST to assess market direction and ...

What is No 1 rule of trading? ›

Rule 1: Always Use a Trading Plan

You need a trading plan because it can assist you with making coherent trading decisions and define the boundaries of your optimal trade.

What is the 72 hour rule in stocks? ›

Key Takeaways

The Rule of 72 is a simplified formula that calculates how long it'll take for an investment to double in value, based on its rate of return. The Rule of 72 applies to compounded interest rates and is reasonably accurate for interest rates that fall in the range of 6% and 10%.

What is the 15 15 15 rule in stocks? ›

The 15-15-15 rule suggests investing 15% of your income for 15 years in a mutual fund with 15% annual returns. Compounding is the process of reinvesting earnings to generate more returns. By following this rule, you can achieve long-term financial goals such as accumulating a substantial corpus for future needs.

What is the golden rule of stock? ›

1 – Never lose money. Let's kick it off with some timeless advice from legendary investor Warren Buffett, who said “Rule No. 1 is never lose money.

What is the 3-5-7 trading rule? ›

What is the 3 5 7 rule in trading? A risk management principle known as the “3-5-7” rule in trading advises diversifying one's financial holdings to reduce risk.

What is the 60 30 10 rule stocks? ›

The classic 60/40 portfolio calls for 60% stocks and 40% bonds. AllianceBernstein's 60/30/10 portfolio is trying to achieve similar returns—it still has 60% in an equities index, 30% in a bond index and another 10% in a TIPS index—but with steadier performance if inflation spikes.

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