Market Timing

Never Regret Making a Profit

It is easy to agonize over the sale of a stock with a big capital gain in it, because it could always go higher.  But selling at a profit is never a bad thing. All it takes to destroy your gain is a few bad news reports.  That can happen with no warning and research …

Use Bad Timing as an Opportunity

Handling emotions when confronted by unfortunate investment timing is key to success.  When you buy something there is a 50% chance it is going to go down.  When it goes down the decline can be substantial.  Everyone knows investments fluctuate.  But there is a big difference between watching the news on CNBC and watching value …

The Psychology of Selling at the Top

Selling after you have made money is more difficult than it sounds. Once an investment runs up there is a decision to make. Then you have to let go. The decision basically boils down to one thing: do you think the investment is still a good one? Earlier this year I sold Walgreens stock (Nasdaq: …

The Time to Buy: When Everyone Else is Selling

Panic produces great investment opportunities.  As a general rule trying to time the market is not good strategy.  But witnessing calamity is an exception.  I will illustrate with two personal examples. First let’s look at the September 11th attacks.  The NYSE was closed for four days following this tragedy.  The same was true of NASDAQ. …