Fire Your Stock Analyst! Analyzing Stocks on Your Own

When to Sell

For me, selling a stock is often more difficult than buying it. If I've made money, I enjoyed the experience and I don't want to leave the party when there's still money to be made. It's even harder to sell if I'm behind. The game isn't over as long as I hold onto the stock, and there's always hope that it will go back up. But once sold, the loss goes on my permanent record.

It's easy to delay selling by saying “Let's wait and see what it does tomorrow.” All too often putting off selling turns profits into losses and turns small losses into bigger losses.

Establishing a strict sell discipline is an effective antidote for seller's procrastination. The “COSC Growth” and “COSC Value” analysis chapters each provide detailed instructions ...