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 …
Stock Dividend Reinvestment Plans: More Trouble than They Are Worth
Stock dividend reinvestment plans create a string of hassles. On the surface they sound great. But once the entire picture comes into focus this is not the case. Companies offer stock dividend reinvestment plans (or DRIPs) because they encourage long-term investment behavior. This provides support for their stock price. It may also be an avenue …
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. …