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 trading? ›

A risk management principle known as the “3-5-7” rule in trading advises diversifying one's financial holdings to reduce risk. The 3% rule states that you should never risk more than 3% of your whole trading capital on a single deal.

What is the 7% rule in stocks? ›

However, if the stock falls 7% or more below the entry, it triggers the 7% sell rule. It is time to exit the position before it does further damage. That way, investors can still be in the game for future opportunities by preserving capital. The deeper a stock falls, the harder it is to get back to break-even.

What is the 10 am rule in stock trading? ›

Some traders follow something called the "10 a.m. rule." The stock market opens for trading at 9:30 a.m., and the time between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. often has significant trading volume. 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.

What is the 7% stop loss rule? ›

Always sell a stock it if falls 7%-8% below what you paid for it. This basic principle helps you always cap your potential downside. If you're following rules for how to buy stocks and a stock you own drops 7% to 8% from what you paid for it, something is wrong.

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. A decent trading plan will assist you with avoiding making passionate decisions without giving it much thought.

What is 90% rule in trading? ›

The 90 rule in Forex is a commonly cited statistic that states that 90% of Forex traders lose 90% of their money in the first 90 days. This is a sobering statistic, but it is important to understand why it is true and how to avoid falling into the same trap.

What is the 80 20 rule in stock trading? ›

80% of your portfolio's losses may be traced to 20% of your investments. 80% of your trading profits in the US market might be coming from 20% of positions (aka amount of assets owned). 80% of the US stock market capitalisation comes from around 20% of the S&P 500 Index.

What is the 20 20 rule in stock trading? ›

In other words, the Rule of 20 suggests that markets may be fairly valued when the sum of the P/E ratio and the inflation rate equals 20. The stock market is deemed to be undervalued when the sum is below 20 and overvalued when the sum is above 20.

What is the golden rule of stock? ›

2.1 First Golden Rule: 'Buy what's worth owning forever'

This rule tells you that when you are selecting which stock to buy, you should think as if you will co-own the company forever.

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

​The 11 am rule suggests that if a market makes a new intraday high for the day between 11:15 am and 11:30 am EST, then it's said to be very likely that the market will end the day near its high.

What is the 11am rule in stocks? ›

It is not a hard and fast rule, but rather a guideline that has been observed by many traders over the years. The logic behind this rule is that if the market has not reversed by 11 am EST, it is less likely to experience a significant trend reversal during the remainder of the trading day.

What is the 15 minute rule in stocks? ›

You can do a quick analysis, adjust your trading strategy and get into a good position well after the crowd pulls the trigger on a gap play. Here is how. Let the index/stock trade for the first fifteen minutes and then use the high and low of this “fifteen minute range” as support and resistance levels.

What is the best day to sell stocks? ›

If Monday may be the best day of the week to buy stocks, then Thursday or early Friday may be the best day to sell stock—before prices dip.

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

The best time of day to buy and sell shares is usually thought to be the first couple of hours of the market opening. The reason for this is that all significant market news for the day is factored into the stock price first thing in the morning.

When to sell losing stocks? ›

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.

What is the 80 20 rule in trading? ›

While stock market investors rely on several rules to formulate their investment strategies, the 80-20 rule remains the most famous. Before we proceed, if you're wondering, 'what is the 80-20 rule? ' - it simply means that 80% of your portfolio's gains come from 20% of your investments.

What is the golden rule of traders? ›

Let profits run and cut losses short Stop losses should never be moved away from the market. Be disciplined with yourself, when your stop loss level is touched, get out. If a trade is proving profitable, don't be afraid to track the market.

What is the 3 30 rule in trading? ›

The 3-30 Rule: One interpretation of the "3.30 formula" could be related to the 3-30 rule in the stock market. This rule suggests that a stock's price tends to move in cycles, with the first 3 days after a major event often showing the most significant price change.

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