I always seem to sell too early.

[nickynoes]

I like to buy at dips or 52 week lows and wait for the stock to rise and then sell as soon as I can make a little profit. Then almost always, the stock goes up big and I have missed the huge ride up. I can't seem to discipline myself not to sell. And a few times I kept the stock it went down
Anyone have any tips for me? Thank you

Instead of selling the stock, you could move a stop loss up after price. How far away the stop should be you yourself should determine. I am comfortable giving back 50% of my profits in order to let the market work. That value could be entirely different for you.

If you want to do some work, analyze your past trades. Look where price went after you exited the position, see how much it retraced after you exited, see how large a stop loss would have been required to stay in the position before it took off.

I am sure you can think of many other variables that might be interesting in determining how to take your profit. The most important part is that you find a method that suits you and makes you sleep well at night.

 

[John9999]

oops. That’s. Hurt

 

[ET180]

When I'm long a stock that has moved up fast, I usually sell. When I'm long a stock that is near resistance, I usually exit or sell enough ATM calls to take away the position at expiration, or sell the stock and sell enough lower-strike puts to get the position back at a lower price. I think this is where people who rely more on fundamental analysis (the Warren Buffet types who take the time to really understand a company, balance sheet, business model, company's market, etc) have a huge advantage over myself and those who rely more on technical analysis. If you really know what a company is worth, then you'll know when is the right time to sell and when is the right time to buy. The problem with the dip buying philosophy lately is that there has not been any dips to buy. Thanks to dollar weakness and central banks, all equities just move higher.

Regarding Netflix, I missed that trade too. Who would have thought that a $100B company could be undervalued by around 25% less than a month ago? Sure, they posted subscriber growth, but also burned a lot of money on content and have a sky-high P/E.

 

[Overnight]

I'm not surprised: I think I'd probably feel pretty sated, myself, after 44 years in any industry ...

...

Hehe, clever girl. Especially if every day with lunch you have one of those cookies I posted earlier...

 

[lawrence-lugar]

I like to buy
Then almost always, the stock goes up
any tips for me?

You, and people like you,...are constant losers in the market. -- Because all you see and sense is the surface level of things.

You are highly and easily fragile to the whips and lashes and volatility the market decides to feed and serve to you.
You have nothing in your trading arsenal, aside from merely...just basically gambling based on intuition, which yours is shaky and flakey.

I'm not saying all of this just to sound superior to you, but to open your mind on multiple levels, and even dimensions.
Sometimes, success in the market...is just a relatively simple matter of approaching it from a different door or angle or perspective.
It's like striking oil, or unleashing a flood of water,....all it takes is to move a couple things around...and the Gush will come,

My beagle is fat and timid and bashful and stubborn. While my corgi that died was an energetic, eccentric firecracker. 2008, great year.
I just ate Chinese food and a whole pot of coffee.

I hope you all make a million dollars in 2018 and beyond, or $4200 every business trading day,...from my deep and profound and expert trading knowledge.

 

[zdreg]

My father was a stockbroker for 44 years. He had a sating . “People never got hurt taking a profit”

It is the worst piece of advice.
an acquaintance has held Boeing for over 50 years. put every money he saved into more BA. that is how you make real money for yourself.
to simplify for ET traders, you should have two hats. one is for trading. one is for investing.
(a cynic/realist might say that most ETers can not afford two hats)

 

[ET180]

It is the worst piece of advice.
an acquaintance has held Boeing for over 50 years. put every money he saved into more BA. that is how you make real money for yourself.

So he's got most of his net worth invested in one company? That seems a bit risky. Enron was a great investment at one time as well. Granted, it is hard to get into the airplane business and Boeing does seem like a great company. But why not have a little diversification and own 4 or 6 companies instead of 1?

 

[zdreg]

So he's got most of his net worth invested in one company? That seems a bit risky. Enron was a great investment at one time as well. Granted, it is hard to get into the airplane business and Boeing does seem like a great company. But why not have a little diversification and own 4 or 6 companies instead of 1?

point is don't trade your investments.

 

[Xela]

don't trade your investments.

This.

Because if you do, you end up selling the good ones and keeping only the bad ones (which aren't "worth selling"). It's what nobody intends to do, and what almost everyone who "trades their investments" ends up doing.

 

[MattZ]

My father was a stockbroker for 44 years. He had a sating . “People never got hurt taking a profit”

In my opinion, this is the most misleading statement for any trader. When you build a method you have to find a way to view the situation objectively and not look at the $$ gain/loss. If you simply look at the $$ you will max out your losses and minimize gains. Those who say that "cant go broke taking a profit" look at a single trade and not a sequence of trading events and their statistical odds.